You are the one I want
by Lazy-anji
Summary: Hermione is in love with Ron, but she's not sure if the feeling is mutual. What will they do when Lord Voldemort returns? Will they continue resisting the magnetic force that draws them together or will they finally give in to each other?
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1_

Hermione Granger neatly placed the last book in her trunk. _Looks a bit full,_ She thought as she closed the trunk. _It's not closing_! she stood there horror-struck.

 _What would Ron do in a situation like this_? Hermione thought a smile forming on her face. She could just imagine Ron saying, _'Herm! Are you MAD? It looks as if you stole all the books from the library and stuffed it in your trunk!'_ He was always exaggerating when it came to Hermione and her books.

Hermione left her trunk and sat down on her bed. Her thoughts drifted to yesterday afternoon…

**_Flashback_**__

Hermione was in Diagon Alley with Harry Potter.

"So, Harry, have you heard from Ron?" Hermione asked turning her head to look at an item in a store. She didn't want Harry to see her cheeks turning pink.

"Er…yeah, just yesterday I got a letter from him." Harry replied after a few seconds of hesitation.

"What'd he say?" Hermione asked looking at Harry, he was acting very peculiar for some reason.

"Oh, you know Ron. Always chatting about how Percy's being a git for making his Mum so miserable and um, stuff."

Hermione raised one of her eyebrows, "Stuff…?"

Harry gave her a guilty smile, "Sorry, I can't really tell you. It's er…guy stuff."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him but before she could say anything, she heard a familiar voice call out, "Oy! Granger! Potter!"

They turned and saw four Weasley's approaching them. All with full on grins.

Hermione felt her heart jump when she spotted Ron in the back of the twins, George and Fred.

"What's shakin'?" George asked and added, "besides Fred, he took a dose of the Wobbly cream cakes a few minutes ago and he hasn't stopped since."

Hermione averted her eyes to Fred and noticed that his arms were shaking a great deal. It looked like that time Lockhart made Harry's bones disappear.

Harry laughed, "That's brilliant! Maybe I can use that to get out of Potions this year."

Ron gave a short laugh, "Ha! I don't think that would work Harry. Snape wouldn't let you out of his classroom unless you're literally dying in his classroom. But, for some reason I don't think he would let you go even if that happened."

"You're right, mate!" George exclaimed slapping Ron hard on the back.

Ron made a face but didn't say anything. Suddenly, he looked at Hermione and grinned, "You alright there, Hermione?"

_This is just Ron_ Hermione thought to herself, trying to calm her nerves.

"Mm mm." She mumbled. _Mm mm? Hermione what the _hell_ are you doing?_ She scolded herself. As if 'mm mm' was such a witty answer.

She felt her cheeks flush. Ron was still looking at her and smiling.

"So, uh…_Ginny_!" Hermione exclaimed as if she and Ginny were a million miles away from each other.

She noticed Harry, George, Ron, and Fred giving her weird looks.

Ginny looked as if she were trying to hold back a huge smile, "You _alright there Hermione_?" she asked her eyes twinkling mischievously.

Hermione laughed, "Shut up!" She mouthed to Ginny when Ron and the other boys were engaged in their Quidditch Talk.

Ginny rolled her eyes, "He wouldn't notice anything. He's too dense."

Hermione looked at Ron from the corner of her eye, he was laughing at some joke Harry made. She just loved the way his whole face lit up when he laughed.

"You look like you want to eat him up right here and now!" Ginny whispered loudly. Then, she wrinkled her nose in disgust as if the image of what she just said entered her mind.

Hermione gasped and hit Ginny on the arm, "I swear one day he'll hear you!"

Ginny dissolved in giggles and then stopped suddenly, her face turned serious, "You really like him a lot don't you?"

"Hey! What's all this bloody whispering about?" Fred asked loudly. He shook his arms in front of their faces, "It looks as if _someone_ need some Wobbly cream cakes." He looked at Hermione, "Try one." He said pulling out a cream cake from his pocket.

"Er…no thanks Fred." Hermione said pushing his hand away.

Fred pretended to be sad, "This really hurts, Hermione. And you know _exactly_ where it hurts? Right _here._" He lifted his right hand and put it over his heart.

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Oh please."

"Leave her alone, Fred." Ron said standing in-between Hermione and Fred.

"Aww…ickle Ronnikins protecting his _girlfriend_?" George asked and then burst out laughing.

Ron turned ten shades of red.

"Come on Weasley's, it's time to buy the rest of your school supplies!" Mrs. Weasley said stepping out of a store, "Well, except for you, Fred and George."

As George, Fred, and Ginny walked away with Mrs. Weasley, Hermione noticed that Ron was still standing in front of her.

"Don't worry with those two gits," he said to Hermione and then turned to Harry, "See you at the station." His eyes kept averting from Harry to Hermione, and then finally he said, "Bye." And gave Hermione a pat on the shoulder.

"See you, Ron." Harry replied with an amused looked on his face.

"Bye." Hermione replied softly as she watched him turn and run to where his family were standing and waiting for him.

**End of flashback**

"Hermione!" Her mother called from the hall, making her come back to reality. Then, suddenly, she remembered something, how was she going to handle this up coming school year if she would be with Ron 24/7?

Hermione felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, and the worst part was that Ron didn't even know that she liked him _like that_.

_What am I going to do? _


	2. Chapter 2

Hey! Thank you sooo much for your reviews: Shweta, Sarah Sparrow, PuckRox, Stompy-sanji and Celebrean

****

Chapter 2 

Hermione dragged her trunk and her brand new cage (with a white and brown owl inside, fluttering about) on the train. She had just said good-bye to her parents and was now searching for her friends.

She looked into a compartment with its door open and saw that it was empty. She decided to sit there for a while before she continued looking for her friends. She was so tired; she didn't get much sleep the night before because she was worrying about how the year would turn out. There were so many things that could and would go wrong. Especially if she told Ron how she felt about him.

"There you are!"

Hermione looked up and saw Harry standing by the compartment door, "We were all going stark mad wondering where you were."

"I couldn't find any of you."

"Come along then. For a second there we were all getting scared that we would have to do our own homework for a change." Harry joked picking up Hermione's trunk.

Hermione didn't say anything. _Is that what Ron thought too?_ She wondered.

"Um, Hermione. I was just kidding." Harry said gently putting down her trunk, "What's wrong?" he asked concerned.

Hermione looked into his eyes and wondered whether she should tell him. She thought against it, "It's nothing, Harry. I just didn't get enough sleep."

She brushed past Harry with the cage and then stopped in her tracks. She just realized she didn't know where to go.

Harry shook his head and smiled, "I think you better get some sleep on the way to Hogwarts."

They passed about three more compartments before Hermione heard a lot of noise coming from the compartment Harry was walking into.

Hermione quickly slipped in right after him and closed the door.

"Hermione!" Ron greeted smiling at her.

Hermione nodded at him, "Hi." She looked around the compartment and saw two new faces Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown. Seated across from Ron, Lavender, and Parvati were Neville, Luna, and Ginny.

"So, Ron. Tell me something." Parvati said flirtatiously flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Like what?" Ron asked, obviously liking the attention.

"Like…" Parvati trailed off and then whispered something in Ron's ear.

Hermione felt her blood start to boil. She balled her hands into fists.

_I am _never_ going to tell him that I like him, _Hermione vowed to herself. She quickly took a seat next to Ginny.

"When did _those two_ start talking to Ron as if they were such good friends?" Hermione asked Ginny in a hushed whisper.

Ginny shrugged her shoulders, "I have no idea what's going on. This is mad weird. About five minutes before you came, they just invited themselves in here and starting talking with Ron and Harry."

"Well, doesn't look as if they're bothering much with Harry." Hermione pointed out.

Ginny turned her head and saw Harry gazing out of the window.

"Maybe you should have a go, he looks as if he needs someone to talk to." Hermione encouraged Ginny.

Ginny hesitated before agreeing. She got up and sat right across from Harry.

Hermione felt as if Ron was a magnet and her eyes kept being drawn to him. She felt her heart breaking just watching Parvati and Lavender flirt with him.

She felt her eyes closing. _I'll just rest for a while, and when I wake up maybe, they'll be gone._ She thought hopefully.

"Wake up…Herm…"

Hermione opened her eyes slowly. She hoped that it was Ron waking her up, but as her eyes focused she saw that it was just Harry.

"Everyone's getting out of the train." Harry said.

Hermione sat up and looked around the empty compartment, "Where's Ron?"

Harry shook his head and rolled his eyes, "He went already."

"With who?"

Like the day in Diagon Alley Harry hesitated again before answering, "Parvatiarti and Lavender."

Hermione couldn't hold back her emotions anymore; her eyes welled up with tears, "What's going on with Ron, Harry? Can't he tell that I like him?"

Harry looked surprised; "I really don't know what to say…" he trailed off regretfully.

"You're not telling me something! What is it?" Hermione asked with a pleading look in her eyes.

"We really have to go." Harry said picking up his trunk.

Hermione quickly wiped away her tears with the sleeves of her robes and followed Harry's lead out of the train and to the carriages that would take them to the Hogwarts castle.

That night in the Gyrffindor Common Room Hermione sat by herself in one of the armchairs, completely absorbed in her own thoughts.

She noticed that she got curious glances from Ron and Harry who were sitting across the room with a group of people, including Parvati and Lavender.

She heard someone dragging a chair next to hers; she turned her head and saw Ginny.

"Are you still thinking about what happened today on the train?" Ginny asked sympathetically.

Hermione nodded.

"He doesn't like them, you know." Ginny said.

Hermione straightened up in the chair, "How would you know?" she asked raising one of her eyebrows skeptically.

"I'm his sister and I _know_ how he acts when he likes somebody." Ginny pointed out, "And _that_ is _not_ how he acts when he likes somebody." She pointed her chin at where Ron and the rest of them were sitting.

Hermione felt her spirits rising, "Really?" she asked hopefully.

"Trust me."


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you all for your reviews!!! I never got so much reviews in my life!!! Thank youuuuuuuu!!!! : **Sarah Sparrow**, **ronherm411, HPCara, ****Kas Kar ACE **(Yup, they're in their 6th year)**, SarahLou, The-Dark-Rose-of-Insanity, Melona, Tanya J Potter, SailorCrystalMoon15, Celebrean **(Yeah, I'm in school but I only have about 3 more days to go and then I'm finished!!! :D Lol I know how you feel, it is a really evil place, but what can you do, right?? ;))**, flying-piggy-123, Stompy-sanji, roses in bloom. **I hope you like this one!******Chapter 3**

The next day at breakfast Hermione tried to act as normal as possible in front of Ron.

"I wonder how our schedules would look like this year." She said talking about a safe topic, school. That's the one reason she loved school so much, the school and subjects could never hurt you, even if you fall in love with it. They would never go and _flirt_ with Parvati and Lavender-_oh my God Hermione! Control yourself, C-O-N-T-R-O-L! _She commanded herself. If she continued thinking like this, she might just end up going to St. Mungos.

"I wonder too." Ron agreed putting a large piece of bacon into his mouth and swallowing.

"Chew Ron, _chew_!" Hermione joked laughing.

Ron stopped chewing as if he couldn't chew and think at the same time, then he continued chewing on his merry little way.

"You'd think that it was _him_ who got stuck at the Dursley's this summer." Harry pointed out grinning, "They were always on some bloody diet, as if it ever helped Dudley."

Ron chuckled, "Goo on 'arry!" He said through a mouthful of food.

Hermione thought that she would've been disgusted at seeing him eat like that, but she was so used to it that she actually thought that it was attractive, in a weird sort of way.

The sound of the owls entering the Great Hall echoed throughout the room.

All three of them looked up expectantly.

Her owl, Noisette stopped right in the middle of Hermione's breakfast plate with a roll of parchment hanging around her neck.

"Ugh, okay I was done with that anyway." Hermione said pushing her plate away from her, she removed the parchment and stroked Noisette's head..

A brown owl landed next to Harry with the Daily Prophet.

Hermione looked down at the parchment and started unrolling it.

She could feel Ron's eyes on her, "Who's it from?" he asked leaning close to her, since he was next to her and Harry was across from them.

Hermione felt the heat rising in her face, "Ron, stop." She turned her back to him. She already knew who it was from, Viktor Krum.

It said:

_Dear Hermmy,_

_ I didn't hear from you in the summer, I hope all is well. You did not answer my request to have you stay with my family and I over the Christmas break. I hope I will see you then, please answer soon. I miss you._

_ -Viktor Krum_

Hermione heard a gasp behind her and knew it was Ron, who else would have the indecency to read behind someone's back?

"_VIKTOR KRUM? You and VIKTOR?" _Ron asked incredulously.

Hermione didn't like lying to anyone, especially Ron but as she thought about how he was acting with Parvati and Lavender and she replied, "Yes, you have a problem with that?"

Ron's mouth was hanging open.

Hermione quickly rolled up the parchment and looked at Harry who looked just as shocked, but then averted his eyes back to the newspaper.

"I thought it was over between you two." Ron said.

"Well, it's not." Hermione answered shortly. She pushed back her chair and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked.

"To class."

As she walked away from the Gryffindor table she heard Ron say to Harry, "But we didn't even get our schedule yet!"

--

Hermione headed straight to the Owlry after breakfast to write a response to Viktor's letter.

She picked up her quill and dipped it in ink. Then, she started writing.

_Hello Viktor,_

_ Everything's fine with me. I'm just really busy with school and all. I'm not sure if I can visit you at Christmas. I'll send you another owl when I have made my decision. How is Quidditch going? _

_ Your friend,_

_ -Hermione_

_Short and sweet,_ Hermione thought rolling up the parchment and hanging it around Noisette's neck. "Take this to Viktor Krum. Take your time on the journey."

The door to the Owlry creaked opened.

Hermione spun around and saw Draco Malfoy.

"What are _you_ doing here, Granger?" Draco asked, he looked around the room, "Where's dumb and dumber?"

"If you are referring to _my friends_, it's none of your business where they are." Hermione snapped.

Draco gave her a knowing look, "Ah…so I see that they've finally gone and left you. Now you have nowhere else to go but to the _Owlry_. Where you find many satisfactions in talking to the owls and conversing about which rat is more nutritious and that sort of thing."

Hermione glared at him, "You must be one of the most stupidest blokes in this school! People come here to send _owls_ to other people, for your kind information. I don't know how _you_ send letters to people at your place but we do things here legally."

Draco's face turned red, he took a few steps forward menacingly, "Don't talk about what you don't know you filthy Mudblood!"

"Oh I know _perfectly well_ what your kind is capable of, Malfoy." Hermione replied pushing Draco aside and walking to the door.

"Oh yeah?"

Hermione turned around and looked at him curiously, "Oh yeah, what?"

Draco pulled out his wand from inside his robes.

"_Accio!_" Hermione exclaimed quickly waving her wand.

"No!" Draco tried holding on to it, but the force was too great and his wand came flying in Hermione's direction.

"Next time Malfoy, I suggest you keep your mouth shut." Hermione said walking away from Draco, who was now seething.

"Give me my wand." Draco commanded.

"If you want it so bad…take it!" Hermione threw his wand up in the air and watched it as it fell graciously in a mound of owl dung.

Draco let out a surprised scream, "My wand!"

Hermione laughed before quickly exiting the room. _That was interesting_, she thought as she headed to the Gryffindor Common Room to see if Harry or Ron got their schedules yet.

****

**A/N: **Also, if you want to read a Dean/Parvati story you can go to my sister's story and check it! And review for her also :D www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=1588416


	4. Chapter 4

Hey! Thank you soooo sooooo soooo much for your reviews!!! I really do appreciate them! :D **Kas Kar ACE **(lol But at least we're almost done right? Can't wait until summer! :D), **SarahLou **(You mean in the story?? Um…no, he just likes her but too bad for him that she likes somebody else lol Sorry, I'm not sure if I answered your question), **flying-piggy-123, Sapphire-Gal **(Whatever you thiiiiiink ;))**, Hellmaster Fibby.**

**__**

**_Chapter 4_**

**__**

For the next few days Hermione observed the way Parvati and Lavender dressed, and especially how they acted around boys.

_I have so much to learn_, Hermione thought as she put a bit of de-frizzing gel into her hair and massaging it into her scalp, _Now what else did it say to do?_ She picked up the container and read the instructions.

She took her brush and ran it through her long brown hair. She put her hair in a side-ways ponytail so that her hair was resting on only one of her shoulders.

Hermione looked in the mirror and stared at herself in awe, _I look Spanish! This is mad cool. _She thought as she closed the book called _Hairstyles of the Centuries and New Age Era_ by Rosalyn Crystalline. In that book, they had various types of hairstyles from different centuries (as the name of the book suggested) and hairstyles from different parts of the world.

Hermione opened her trunk and placed the book under a stack of parchments she received from Ron, Harry…oh yeah, and Viktor over the summer.

She unrolled a piece of parchment when without warning the door opened and Parvati walked in.

Hermione quickly stuffed the parchment back into her trunk and closed it.

"C'mon Hermione. We're all waiting for you." She said twirling a strand of her black hair with a big smile on her face.

"_We_?" Hermione asked confused.

Parvati giggled, "You're _so_ funny! Ron, Harry, Lavender, and me."

Hermione had half a mind to tell Parvati to leave her and her friends alone but then she decided against it and said, "Alright, let's go."

They both walked out of the Girls' Dormitory and to the Common Room where her friends were gathered.

"Finally!" Lavender exclaimed when she saw them, "Did you have constipation or something, Hermione?" She raised her eyebrows at Hermione.

Hermione ignored her question and slowly raised her eyes to look at Ron. Her lips formed into a huge smile when she saw Ron watching her with his mouth hanging open.

"Oh by the way, what did you do to your _hair_?" Parvati asked spinning Hermione around to face her.

"Er…" Hermione trailed off. What was Parvati's problem anyway?

"Um, let's go to Charms before Professor Flitwick makes us write a foot long essay on the use of charms in our daily lives or something." Harry said changing the subject.

Parvati looked thoughtful for a minute before saying, "C'mon Ron. Let's go." She grabbed Ron's hand and led him out of the Common Room.

When Hermione, Harry, and Lavender reached the Charms classroom, they all took their seats.

Hermione sat next to Harry who was next to Ron. She saw Ron and Harry whispering to each other. She turned her face in the other direction and saw Parvati looking at Ron and then glaring at her.

She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see what Harry wanted.

"Hi." Ron said when she turned.

Her eyes widened and her heart started beating wildly.

"You shouldn't listen to Parvati, I think your hair looks wonderful." Ron whispered in her ear, since Professor Flitwick started his lesson.

Hermione felt chills go up her arm, "Thanks."

"I'm sure Viktor would be impressed." Ron said and then winked.

Hermione almost glared at him but then she focused on Professor Flitwick who was talking about…wait, she had _no idea_ what he was talking about! Hermione gasped, _Oh my God! I'm going to fail Charms! This is all Ron's fault. Why'd he have to tell me that my hair looked wonderful? I can't even concentrate now. Especially since, he's sitting right next to me…_

"Miss Granger!"

Hermione sat up in her chair startled, "Yes?" she asked looking wildly around the room. She just hoped that she didn't look like a mad woman, which she think she did because a few people started laughing.

Professor Flitwick looked disappointed, "Please see me after class."

Hermione groaned, _Just great._

When class was over Hermione was one of the last people to get up from her seat.

"We'll wait for you outside." Harry said.

"No it's okay, you guys go ahead." Hermione said, "It'll only take a few minutes."

"Okay, well, good luck, Herm." Ron said and then they both exited the room.

Hermione walked cautiously to Professor Flitwick's table. He was busy sorting out some papers.

She stood there for a good few seconds before saying, "Um, Professor, you wanted to see me?"

Professor Flitwick looked up at her and her heart almost stopped. His eyes were blood red, "Yes, Miss Granger. I've been waiting for you."

--

"We should've checked Professor Flitwick's classroom again." Ron said that evening in the Common Room. After that discussion Hermione was supposed to have with Professor Flitwick, she didn't go to any of her other classes.

"We checked his class three times, Ron!" Harry pointed out.

Ron felt worried, "What if something happened? I swear if that git did anything to her…" he trailed off.

"Who's a git?" Ginny asked sitting on the chair next to Harry, "Where's Hermione?"

"Professor Flitwick." Harry answered.

"We don't know. She just disappeared!" Ron exclaimed frustrated, "Where could she have gone?"

"Don't worry, she'll come back. She always does. Maybe she just had to do some extra credit for Professor Flitwick." Ginny suggested.

"But she has top marks in the class, why would she-" Ron started.

"Her grades are dropping, Ron." Ginny interrupted.

Ron looked surprised, "But-she-would never let her grades drop." He stammered.

"Well, that's your fault!" Ginny exclaimed crossing her arms over her chest.

Ron looked at Harry and then at Ginny with raised eyebrows, "What're you talking about?"

"If you don't understand, then I'm not going to tell you." With that, Ginny got up and walked away, leaving Ron even more confused.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey! Thanks soooo much for your reviews!!! :D **SarahLou **(It's okay don't worry about it lol I'm always confused, you could ask anyone ;)), **Kas Kar ACE, WeluvweKR, Lyz, Tanya J Potter, EVILMWHAA HA HA HA HAA, flying-piggy-123, popppincorn, Hellmaster Fibby, Jenn, and Pattiweasley**! A million times THANK YOU!!!!! lol 

--

Chapter 5 

**__**

_Hermione was walking down the dark corridor._

_"Lumos." She said holding her wand in front of her. All her senses were on alert mode. _Where is everyone?_ She thought. _

_Even the paintings that were usually hanging on the walls disappeared. _

_ "Hermione!" _

_ She jumped. "Who's there?" she asked, her voice shaking._

_ "Help me! Please!" The voice shouted and then the air was filled with a piercing scream._

_ Hermione ran the full length of the corridor until she reached to a door that was ajar. She slowly pushed the door open and looked around the dark room._

_ She held up her wand in front of her and saw shadows in the background._

_ "W-who's there?" _

_ The person screamed again. _

_ Suddenly, she recognized the voice…Ron! It was Ron!_

_ "Ah…Miss Granger, you're right in time." A low voice said, "Allumos!" _

_ Most of the room was suddenly filled with light, except for the corners._

_ Hermione felt her stomach turn. A few feet in front of her Ron was strapped into a chair, he was struggling to try free himself._

_ "Ron!" Hermione exclaimed running to him, but then she was stopped by someone pulling her from the back of her robes._

_ She turned her head and saw Parvati, "Leave him be." She instructed as she now gripped Hermione's arm tightly. _

_ "No!" She tried kicking and pushing Parvati away but she just wouldn't budge. It was as if she was made of rock or something of that sort._

_ "Go ahead." Parvati motioned to someone in the corner._

_ Hermione watched in horror as a man dressed in a black cloak with a handkerchief covering most of his face except for the eyes stepped from the shadows and stood right next to Ron. He pulled out a small bottle from the inside of his cloak, he started to taunt Ron by making the bottle dance in mid air in front of his face._

_ "You were too late Hermione…just too late." Parvati said in a mock sad tone._

_ Ron's face was filled with fright, his eyes widened as the man unscrewed the cap on the bottle, "Hermione! Help!" He looked at her._

_ Hermione's heart was racing, "Let-me-go!" she screamed using all her strength to pull away from Parvati's grip. _

_ The man let out a short laugh, "If you open your mouth any wider I would have a reason to put this whole bottle in your mouth."_

_ Ron shut his mouth immediately._

_ Tears started forming in Hermione's eyes as she watched the man force open Ron's mouth. _

_ "This is ridiculous. _Abbriviloso!" _Sparks flew from the man's wand and hit Ron in the mouth._

_ Ron let out a painful scream._

_ "Stop! Please!" Hermione begged. _

_ Ron's mouth slowly opened wider and wider. It looked as if two screws were attached to each side of his jaw, and that the screws kept turning to forcefully open his mouth._

_ The man poured the liquid into Ron's mouth and stood back watching._

_ "There is nothing more you can do." Parvati said letting go of Hermione._

_ Hermione raced to Ron. "_Anstrap!" _She pointed her wand at the ropes that were holding Ron in his seat. As the ropes loosened and fell to the ground Hermione wrapped her arms around Ron's neck._

_ "Ron…" She hit him lightly on his cheek, but his head just lolled on the side. _

_ Parvati laughed evilly, "You silly girl. There is nothing you can do to revive him."_

_ Hermione started crying harder, "There _has_ to be something!" _

_ "You're too late." _

_ Hermione watched in shock as Ron slowly started to disappear right in front of her eyes. "What did you do to him?" She commanded looking at the man. That's when she realized his eyes…those horrible red eyes._

_ She screamed._

--

Hermione felt a splash of water hit her face. She opened her eyes and saw…Parvati standing over her.

She screamed and sat up in her bed.

"Hermione! What's wrong with you?" Parvati asked, she looked a bit annoyed.

Hermione looked around the room; she looked at the clock and saw that it was 3am.

Ashlee Crowbed, her other room mate rushed into the room talking to someone who was behind her, but she stopped suddenly when she saw Hermione awake, "She was screaming…and oh I don't know…she kept saying Ron's name over and-"

Ginny rushed to Hermione's side at once, "Are you okay?" she asked looking concerned, "What were you dreaming about? Ashlee was telling me that you were saying Ron's name in your sleep."

"Not here." Hermione said softly, she looked in Parvati and Lavender's direction where they were talking quietly with each other.

Ginny got the hint, "Alright, let's go in the Common Room."

They both sat on the couch facing each other as Hermione gave her details of the dream.

"That's horrible." Ginny replied afterwards. As if she suddenly remembered something, she said, "Where were you the whole day? Everyone was so worried about you!"

Suddenly, Hermione heard footsteps coming from the corridor of the Boys' Dormitory. She turned and saw Ron and Harry.

"Ginny, what're you-" Ron stopped in mid sentence as his eyes fell on Hermione.

"Hermione! You're all right!" Harry rushed to her and gave her a big hug.

Hermione hugged him back; she looked at Ron who was looking at her warily.

"We were so worried. Every other hour we would come out of our dormitory and check the Common Room to see if you came back." Harry said; smiling relieved. He hugged her again.

Hermione smiled in spite of herself.

"So, what happened to you? What did Flitwick say?" Harry asked sitting down next to her on the couch.

Hermione hesitated, "Um, nothing much." She didn't look at any of them.

She heard someone grunt she looked up and saw that it was Ron. His face was completely red, "That's all you're going to say? _Nothing much_?"

Hermione was lost for words, "I-um…"

Ron walked across the room in long, quick strides. He pointed his finger at her to emphasize his point, "Next time you wander off with some other boy can you at least _tell us_ so that we wouldn't be worrying our heads off? _Bloody hell!_"

Hermione's lips started quivering, as she tried to hold back her tears. Why did it always feel ten times worse when the person who you like gets mad at you?

"Yeah, that's right. Start crying." Ron said glaring at her.

Ginny gasped, "Ron!" She exclaimed putting her arms around Hermione's shoulders and hugged her.

Harry looked at Ron with a surprised look on his face; his mouth was hanging open. He looked as if he was about to say something, but then Ron interrupted.

"Or maybe you were in the Owlry sending a million posts to _Viktor_. Next time I won't waste any of my precious time worrying about-oh never mind!" He threw his hands up in frustration and bolted from the Common Room.

Harry gave Hermione an apologetic smile before running after Ron.

_He doesn't even know what really happened, _Hermione thought feeling as if her whole world was crumbling.


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you guys soooooo much for your reviews!!! **Ronaholic, Gloria, Garetfire, Fluffy, SarahLou, WeasleyGirl, All-4-Romance, True-gryffindor, EVILMWHAA HA HA HA HAA, Luna Lovegood, Rinoa, MC, Flying-piggy-123, Crazyanimefreak03, Immadabouthermione, Lyz, Allison and JenniGellerBing. **

--

Chapter 6 

**__**

It had been days since Ron's little outburst at Hermione in the Common Room.

Ron was in the dormitory changing into his school robes. _Why can't I get her out of my mind? It's not as if she would even talk to me after what happened._

He knew that he shouldn't have just blown up at Hermione like that but she struck a nerve when she gave that short answer. _Nothing much,_ w_hat the hell did that _mean_ anyway? Just because we still take Divination, she just expected us to know what had happened. _If she only knew how _worried _he was that day, thinking the worst, and when he saw her there with Ginny he never felt so relieved in his whole life.

He put his wand in his pocket and headed to the Great Hall. When he woke up that morning, all of his roommates, including Harry were already gone.

When he entered the Great Hall, he saw Professor Dumbledore rising from his chair at the High Table.

Ron hurried to the Gryffindor table and sat down in the empty seat next to Harry.

"Great timing, mate." Harry whispered with a grin, the level of noise in the room lessened.

Ron gave a short laugh, "I know. I'm starving." He looked down at the table and looked at what food was left over. He picked two pieces of toast and some jam. He looked up and searched for Hermione.

He spotted her on the other side of the table next to Neville, and Ginny. She was looking at him, but then she averted her eyes to Professor Dumbledore.

Ron's heart gave a jump.

Suddenly, the room erupted in noise. He heard some people groan and some were cheering.

"What's going on?" Ron asked looking at Harry. He had been so absorbed in thoughts of Hermione that he didn't even hear what Professor Dumbledore said.

"Some students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons are coming here for the Halloween Dance."

"What?" Ron exclaimed.

He sneaked a peak at Hermione to see her reaction. She looked completely surprised and then a worried expression came on her face. She bit her lip as if she was contemplating something…

"Ron? Did you hear me?" Harry asked.

Ron tore his eyes away from Hermione, "Huh? What?"

Harry sighed and looked at him, "Why don't you just tell her that you're sorry?" he asked pointedly.

"I can't. It'll make me look like a stupid bloke."

"You should've just let her continue, now she wouldn't even tell _me _what happened that day in Professor Flitwick's office." Harry said.

"Well, I don't think she would've told you, anyway." Ron took a big bite of the toast and ripped it with his teeth and started chewing, "This…toast…is…hard." He commented and then picked up his goblet and took a big gulp.

"That's why they call it _toast_ Ron," Harry replied fairly amused.

"Oh yeah."

They were silent for a moment.

"Who do you think she'll take to the Halloween Dance? Krum, no doubt." Ron said answering his own question.

Suddenly, Ron felt someone poke him in his side.

"Ow!" He looked and saw Colin holding a piece of parchment in his hand.

"For you." Colin said giving the paper to Ron.

Ron raised one of his eyebrows skeptically and opened the folded piece of parchment.

He felt a sinking sensation in his stomach after he finished reading it.

"What does it say?" Harry asked curiously.

Ron gave him the note and slumped down in his seat.

It said:

_Hey Ron. Would you like to go to the Dance with me? I won't accept a no. _

_ Love,_

_ Parvati _

Harry shook his head and folded the note again, "That's tough…what're you going to do?"

Ron shrugged his shoulders, "I have no bloody idea."

--

Hermione went to the library directly after dinner that day. This was the only place where she could think.

She was in the Potions section of the library, looking for a specific book when she heard someone say her name.

She turned around and saw Ron. "What do you want? Come to scream at me some more, have you? You want to try waking the whole school now instead of just the Gryffindor house?" she asked glaring at him, she ignored the heat that started to rise all throughout her body when Ron was looking at her.

Ron looked taken aback, "Well, I _was_ going to say sorry. But I think I've changed my mind, now." He started backing away.

_Stupid,stupid,stupid! Stop him! _Her mind commanded her.

Hermione hesitated a second, "Wait! Ron, please…wait." She took a few steps forward and took hold of his arm.

She looked up at him and she thought she saw a slight smile, but then it was quickly replaced by a serious look.

"I just came here to apologize and you just started biting my head off. Maybe you should go and join _Fang_ in Hagrid's cabin. You both could have a jolly good time biting my head off, take turns." Ron said babbling.

"Oh shut up, Ron!" Hermione exclaimed finally having enough.

Ron looked at her, "Why don't _you _shut up?" he retorted.

"I didn't say anything!"

"Yeah, you did."

"No, I didn't!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Excuse me love birds, sorry to interrupt your _bickering_ but we do have students here who _want_ some peace and quiet." Madame Pince, the librarian said glaring at Hermione and Ron.

"Oh, so sorry, Madame Pince." Hermione apologized, feeling her cheeks turning red.

Madame Pince looked at Ron, waiting for his apology.

Ron just stared back at her.

"_Ron!_" Hermione exclaimed nudging him in the ribs.

"Oh alright. Sorry."

Madame Pince huffed and then walked away from them.

"I really wasn't sorry, you know." Ron whispered to her with a grin.

Hermione felt all the anger melt away, "I know."  
"But, Hermione…I am really sorry for that day in the Common Room." Ron said his voice low, "I didn't mean to jump to conclusions about Viktor and…stuff. Even though, I'm sure you were…"

"I wasn't writing to him, Ron." Hermione said. She felt her stomach churning just thinking about what _really_ happened. She promised that she wouldn't tell anyone and that included Ron.

"So…we're alright now?" Ron asked.

"Yes."

Ron smiled and then he wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

Hermione hugged him back, _At least we're talking to each other again, _She thought. She wished that she could be in his arms forever, but they were only _friends_. Only friends…


	7. Chapter 7

Hey! Thank you all for your wonderful reviews!!! :D **SarahLou **(lol You're really something else! You made me laugh soo much when you said 'yucky smelly krum' lol)**, eMeRaLd'S gUrL **(You'll find out in the 8th chapter if he does ask her lol ;))**, True-Gryffindor **(I'm really happy that you're liking the story! :D)**, Angel of Fire SGI, Kas Kar ACE **(lol oh my God! You hate Parvati? Lol I didn't mean to make her so evil in the story but that's how it turned out, I needed atleast one bad person :P)**, Flying-piggy-123 **(Yup! You will find out soon enough, because I don't want to drag it too much before you guys get sick of the story lol And about Ron and Hermione you'll just have to see! Lol ;))**, Kiseki, CarrieWeasely **(lol Don't worry, it did make sense! :D And thanks a lot!!!)**, Mc **(lol Poor Parvati, so much people don't like her lol)**, Witchyartemis **(I'm sooo happy that you like the story! Lol Yeah, boooy, that really tells me somethin'! :D Thanks so much for reviewing eventhough you got exams ;))**, Punkbanana13, Fraser, EVILMWHAA HA HA HA HA, Celebrean **(It's okay, but I'm still happy that you did review! :D).

**A/N: I know this chapter is a bit short, but I really had some bad writers block, so please tell me what you think of this chapter! **

**__**

**_Chapter 7_**

**__**

It was mid-October, when Ron started noticing that a few days every other week Hermione kept disappearing.

"What do you think she's up to?" Ron asked Harry. They were both sitting on Harry's bed; Dean and Seamus were sleeping.

Harry shrugged, "I dunno. She's been acting very strange though."

Ron nodded, "I noticed." Then, he sighed. __

Harry gave a big yawn and then looked at his watch, "It's almost 12:30, and maybe we should go to sleep."

Ron shook his head stubbornly and stood up, "I'm going to the Common Room to wait some more."

"Okay, goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Ron walked out of the room and through the corridor to go to the Common Room. He took a seat on a chair and waited.

Suddenly, he heard the portrait complaining, "Waking me up in the middle of the night, children these days!"

He saw somebody approaching, but the light from the fire was too dim to make out who it was. He stood up and gripped his wand tightly.

"Who's there?" he called out.

Then, he heard the familiar gasp, "What are you doing up so late?" Hermione asked her voice shaking.

Ron took her arm and brought her closer to the fire, so that he could see her face clearly, "I was waiting for you." He almost let go of her arm when he saw her face, she had tears running down her cheeks, and her hair was a mess as if she was in a fight.

"What's going on Hermione? Tell me." Ron said his eyes pleading.

She looked away from him, "_I can't!_" she replied shrilly.

"Yes you can." Ron said softly, looking into her eyes as if her eyes would reveal where she had been.

"I can't." Hermione said again as tears started streaming from her eyes.

Ron decided to give in, "It's okay, Hermione." He said giving her a comforting hug. _If she doesn't want to tell me, then I'll just find out on my own, but I'll need Ginny's help._

_--_

Ron was in Herbology; he couldn't stop thinking of what his plan would be. _We already tried being direct and asking her, but she just wouldn't tell us. _He felt even _more_ stressed because he had this huge crush on her, and he couldn't even tell her now because she was acting so weird.

Every time he or Harry tried talking to her, she would act all nervous and scamper off to the library or somewhere.

Ron remembered a few days ago in the Great Hall Hermione received an owl and when he asked whom it was from she just got mad at him and told him to mind his own business. As if seeing her act this way wasn't any of his business.

He also remembered this particular incident when Harry and him were talking about the Order and what was going on, Hermione got this panicked look on her face and just bolted from the room, which was kind of weird because she was always curious to know what the Order was up to.

"I got it!" Ron exclaimed suddenly

Professor Sprout looked at him with a big smile on her face, "What a surprise! I never expected this to ever happen, what is the answer then?"

"The letters!"

Professor looked at him quizzically, "The letters? No, that's incorrect. Moving on…"

The letters…I'll just tell Ginny to go through Hermione's letters! But the main question was…when?


	8. Chapter 8

Wow! I got sooo many reviews! Thanks sooooo much!!! **Sanji, Punkbanana13 **(Yeah, I know! It's the worst! And I always seem to get it when I have to write a chapter 7 for a story! It's really weird lol)**, Nexiumchick, Witchyartemis, Tanya J Potter, eMeRaRlD's gUrL, CarrieWeasley **(You'll find out soon enough! But I think the story might take a turn in the next chapter, lol But I can tell you one thing though, it is bad!)**, SarahLou **(lol Thanks, I knowww I update a lot lol But it's only because I don't want people to forget my story :P And I think you're on to something with the Krum thing lol)**, Original Mercedes Benz** (Nooo I'm not Spanish! Actually, I got that idea to put that part in the story because it's something that happened in real life with my sister :P)**, Kas Kar ACE** (Lol oh okay, I was just wondering :D)**, Flying-piggy-123 **(Thanks a lot! I was seriously stressing about chapt. 7 lol I'm glad you liked it!)**, Blackcat69, Talex-1, True-gryffindor, EVILMWHAA HA HA HA HAA, Mc **(Thanks, I hope so too! But it's kinda going now, but I'll try and fight it :P lol Hope I don't sound too weird right now lol If I do, sorry)**, Celebrean **(I hope you're okay!)**, StarDancer3 **(Thank you soo much for your review! Lol I really do appreciate it :D Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough!)**, SailorCrystalMoon15, Kai-yasha, Ashton Rushing **(Thank you! You don't know how good it makes me feel to hear something like that! :D Thanks again for reviewing!)**, Fraser **(Thanks for telling me what you thought of the chapter! :D I know, I don't think JK would ever go in depth with the relationship between Ron and Hermione, but hey…you never know! ;))

**A/N: I just wanted to say that I changed the summary of the story because the way this story's going it didn't match with the one I had before, but I still hope that you guys will continue reading! :D **

**__**

**_Chapter 8_**

**__**

Ron was waiting impatiently in the Common Room; he kept pacing the room as most of the Gryffindors were buzzing about getting ready for the Halloween Ball.

He hadn't seen Parvati come out of the Girl's Dormitory, yet she was taking hours! He guessed by the time she came into the Common Room he would've turned 50 by then.

"You alright there, Ron? You look like a daft poodle." Harry said grinning.

Ron stopped in his tracks, "A what?"

"It's a type of dog." Harry replied.

"Ron! Let's get going." Parvati said walking towards him.

Everyone had to wear dress robes this year, also. Parvati was wearing a dress robe that was golden and red with sequins that kept changing it's designs on its own. Ron decided to put his pride aside and borrowed a deep crimson colored robe from Harry's collection.

Parvati took his hand in hers and looked up at him expectantly, "Lavender and her date left ages ago, c'mon Ron! Let's go."

Ron had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes, "Well, I've been waiting here for _you_, I swear you're even slower than my grandmother!" He could always restrain himself from rolling his eyes, but never from opening his mouth.

"Ron!" Parvati exclaimed in a teasing voice.

_Did I just tell her a joke or something? I don't think so. _Ron thought to himself. This felt so wrong, he didn't want to go to the Dance with Parvati, he wanted to go with _Hermione_! Well, it was too late anyway; he knew that she would've been going with Krum.

He'd seen Hermione and Krum talking last night when the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students arrived at the school. They looked as if they were having a very serious conversation, so he decided not to interrupt them. As if he could even come within two feet of Viktor without wanting to break all of his teeth.

_He doesn't even deserve her. _He thought as he walked out of the portrait hole with Parvati still clinging onto his arm.

Parvati was chatting away about who was going with who to the Dance tonight and as they passed a group of girls loitering in the corridors she conspicuously talked about how horrible their robes looked. Hence getting dirty looks from the girls.

Suddenly, he remembered that he didn't say good-bye to Harry. Oh well, he had to know that Ron had lot of things on his mind lately. _We'll just catch up later. _He thought.

When they finally reached to the doors of the Great Hall, Parvati stopped walking.

"What is it?" Ron asked confused.

Parvati looked down at her robes, "Do I look alright?"

Ron shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah, fabulous." He said monotonously. He thought he saw a pained look flash across her face but then it was quickly replaced by a confident look.

As they entered the Great Hall, Ron looked up at the enchanted ceiling. He saw pumpkins that were carved out into faces flying all over the place. On top of that, they kept making comments to whomever they flew past.

One pumpkin stopped a few inches next to Parvati and it's mouth split into an evil grin, "Double, double, toil and trouble…is that your butt or is it a bubble?" Then it cackled loudly and flew upwards.

Parvati screamed and looked at her behind.

Ron started laughing. _Maybe this night won't turn out as bad as I expected. _He thought.

His eyes scanned the room, but he didn't see Hermione, Viktor, Ginny, or Harry anywhere.

Parvati seemed to have recovered from that little incident with the pumpkin because she dragged him to one side of the room and said, "Let's say hi to Lavender and her date."

As Parvati and Lavender talked animatedly to one another Ron looked at her date, Seamus!

Seamus must've noticed the surprised look on his face because his face turned red and he shrugged his shoulders, "I've always fancied her."

Ron decided to keep his mouth shut. _Like Mum always said 'If you don't have anything good to say then don't say anything at all.'_

"Oh my God. Look at _Hermione_!" Lavender exclaimed loudly.

Ron turned and saw Hermione holding Krum's hand; well actually, it looked as if Krum was squashing Hermione's hand because her face looked pained and not comfortable.

He felt his blood boiling.

"Ron! _Ron!_"

"What?" Ron snapped looking down at Parvati who had her arms crossed across her chest.

"I want to dance."

"So, go ahead." Ron said moving to the side to let Parvati pass.

Parvati glared at him, "I mean with you, you stupid bloke!"

Ron's eyes never left Hermione as Parvati dragged him (once again) to the half full dance floor.

Parvati had to push and pull Ron's body just to get him to move.

"Ron! Let's go." Ginny said hurriedly, appearing out of nowhere next to them.

He removed his hands from around Parvati's waist and started to move backwards.

"What're you doing?" Parvati asked shrilly over the loud music she was completely in shock.

"I'll be back." Ron said turning and running out of the Great Hall with Ginny.

Once out of the Great Hall, they waited for Harry to meet up with them.

Ron looked one last time into the room at Hermione who looked fully absorbed in Krum.

He felt as if someone was breaking his heart into little pieces, he couldn't believe how close Hermione and Krum were dancing. He just couldn't get that look on her face out of his mind, when she first entered the Great Hall that pained awful look…

He snapped out of his thoughts just as Harry was jogging towards them.

"Finally!" Ginny exclaimed an anxious look on her face, "Let's get to the bottom of the Hermione situation."

The three of them ran all the way to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Password?"

"Tinke-"

"No, sorry, incorrect." The Fat Lady said grinning at Harry.

"What d'you mean _incorrect_?" Ron exclaimed, "You didn't even let him bloody finish!"

"Oh, there's more?" The Fat Lady asked innocently.

"Tinker-" Harry started again.

"No! I didn't ask for the password yet." The Fat Lady interrupted, thoroughly enjoying herself.

Harry sighed exasperated, "Well, hurry up and ask!" he exclaimed reaching to his limit of patience.

The Fat Lady looked thoughtfully at the three of them and then finally said, "Password?"

"Tinkersocks!" Harry and Ron said in unison.

The portrait swung open and the three of them ran into the Common Room.

"Hurry Gin." Ron said.

Ginny nodded and then headed to the Girls' Dormitory.

Last night while Hermione was busy with Krum, Harry, Ron, and Ginny planned on how they would get the letters from Hermione's dormitory. They decided that once Hermione entered the Great Hall they would meet outside the Great Hall and go back to the Gryffindor Common Room.

It was good that Ginny came to remind Ron about meeting outside the Great Hall because he had completely forgotten.

Harry started pacing the room.

"What's taking her so long?" Ron asked his foot shaking involuntarily.

Before Harry could answer, they heard loud footsteps echoing from the Girls' Dormitory.

Ginny stopped running and held out numerous letters that were in her hands.

Ron and Harry each took one letter and opened it.

Ginny set the other letters on a table and picked a letter out of the pile.

Ron's eyes flew across the page and then he felt his heart literally stop, "We have to get Hermione out of there!"


	9. Chapter 9

Hey! Thank you all for your reviews! **Fuzzfurry, Fraser, SarahLou, Kalika Niamah, Blackcat69, Kas Kar ACE, Flying-piggy-123, Punkbanana13, Danielle, Mc, EVILMWHAA HA HA HA HAA, The-Dark-Rose-of-Insanity **(Really? You went China? How was it??? Lol The last thing you said in your review made me laugh!!! :D), **Celebrean, SailorCrystalMoon15, Cleo **(Serious?? :D Yeaaah, because it was!!! You should know ;) Lol And no it wasn't the end lol) **and eMeRaLd'S gUrL!!! **

**_Chapter 9_**

**__**

Ron ran as fast as his legs would take him to the Great Hall. Snippets of the letter he read kept flashing through his mind. _Halloween Dance-special potion-bring back the Dark Lord-Over a hundred followers-take over Hogwarts.._.

He realized that's why he didn't see Professor Dumbledore at the Dance, in the letter, Krum explained the whole plan to Hermione about how the Death Eaters would capture Dumbledore when he was alone and unguarded and hide him in a secret dungeon.

He skidded to a stop in the middle of the room, his eyes scanned wildly around looking for Hermione and Krum.

"I don't see them." Harry said anxiously.

Ron and Harry had sent Ginny to look for Professor McGonagall to show her the letters.

Suddenly, the music stopped and the sound of windows breaking filled the room.

Ron looked up and saw the Death Eaters on brooms flying about and cackling evilly. In an instant, the whole room turned into chaos, people were running around like mad, but that's when Ron spotted them, Hermione and Krum running to the entrance of the Great Hall.

He pushed through the throng of students and quickly exited the Great Hall. Once outside the room, he heard the door slam shut. He heard people screaming, but he couldn't turn back to help anyone. That's when he realized that Harry was still inside the Great Hall. _He can take care of himself…I hope. _He thought, silently praying that both of his friends were all right.

"Somebody help me!"

"Shut up, you stupid girl!"

Ron immediately recognized Hermione and Krum's voices.

His heart was thudding against his chest, but he tried to push the feeling of fright aside and ran towards the voices.

Ron couldn't believe that he was doing this alone, it felt weird but at the same time exhilarating. Maybe for once he could prove to everybody that he _could_ do things on his own, especially saving the one person who meant the most to him.

He ran down several flights of staircases and then down the corridor until he reached to the grounds where Hagrid's cabin was located.

The weather was very wet. As cold, big drops of rain fell to the earth, Ron skidded to a stop behind a big boulder. He peered out into the darkness wishing that there were more light for him to see where exactly Hermione and Krum were going.

Suddenly, Ron saw a bright blue light flash from within the Forbidden Forest. He gulped the lump that started forming in his throat, _I guess that's where I have to go. _He thought slowly but steadily making his way to the Forbidden Forest.

--

Harry watched in horror as the doors slammed shut, leaving everybody trapped in the Great Hall.

"I couldn't find her, Harry." Ginny said holding onto his arm, tightly.

Harry turned to look at her and saw that the fear in her eyes mirrored his. He looked around the room and saw that almost everybody was huddled at the sides of the room.

"C'mon." He said making his way through the crowds of students and finding an empty corner. He sank down to the floor, with Ginny following his lead.

He felt in his pocket for his wand and then took it out, _Better to be armed. _He thought to himself.

"Everyone, descend." One of the men drawled, landing gracefully in the middle of the room and surveying the room.

Harry recognized that voice immediately as Lucius Malfoy. He felt his blood start to boil.

All of the other Death Eaters landed behind him, like soldiers waiting to be instructed.

"My…my…my…look at all of these petrified faces." Lucius said mockingly walking around the room. He pulled out his wand from his cloak and pointed it at a girl from Ravenclaw.

The girl squealed and then covered her mouth with her hands.

"That's right you disgracefully little _Mudblood_. I don't want to hear another word come out of your mouth…infact…_Avada Kedavra!_"

A jet of green light was emitted from his wand and the girl was killed instantly. Her body fell limply onto the floor.

Lucius chuckled, "One down, and many, many more to go."


	10. Chapter 10

Thank you for your reviews!!! **Witchyartemis **(Yeah, I know! I like seeing Ron as the hero too :D)**, SarahLou **(lol Bewareee! More Krum coming up! ;))**, Kas Kar ACE **(Lol okay, I cant at least tell you about Hermione! Don't worry she is safe, she's not dead or anything lol)**, Punkbanana13 **(lol You'll seeee!!! ;) Thank you for your review!)**, RainDrops** (Lol YAY!!! You killed him for us!!! Lol That's one less person to worry about lol ;))**, Dolphinz87 **(Was it something good or bad?? (the ending of the chapter) I'm just curious lol :D)**, Ashton Rushing** (Lol Don't worry!!! You'll survive! :D Thanks a lot for your review!)**, Fuzzfurry, Blackcat69, Celebrean, SailorCrystalMoon15, Flying-piggy-123 **(Thank you sooo much!! :D)**, Mc** (Yeah, I know! Me too! I had a completely different idea for this story but then I got another idea and then yeah! Lol This is how it turned out! Thanks a lot for your review!)**, Candice-marie** (Thank you sooo much!!! :D:D:D)** and Rachel J.A.**

**_Chapter 10_**

**__**

"_Lumos_." Ron raised his wand in front of himself and walked into the Forbidden Forest.

He could hear Krum's voice echoing off the trees.

_They must be nearby_, Ron thought.

Suddenly, he heard something rustling in one of the trees above him. He felt his throat constricting in fear.

He raised his wand above his head to see if he could get a better look at whatever it was, but he still couldn't see anything, _That can't be Krum, can it? I doubt he would be able to climb a tree_, he thought.

Then, he saw something emerge from a tree and land with a loud _thump _a few feet away from him.

Ron stared at the creature with his mouth hanging open, completely in shock. It was a Pigagle! He vaguely remembered reading something about it in Care of Magical Creatures.

The Pigagle was a mixture of a pig and an eagle. It had a big, round, pink snout and fairly round body. The psychical characters it had from an eagle were the large white and black wings and long clawed feet.

Ron took a few steps backwards, clutching his wand in his hand for dear life. It was times like this when he wished that he listened to Hermione and paid attention in class rather than chatting about Quidditch or something of that sort with Harry.

The Pigagle tilted its head to one side as if it were sizing him up. Then, it took a few steps towards Ron. Its wings started flapping in slow, threatening movements.

"Oink…oink…oink…"

_Bloody thing's stuck on repeat_, Ron thought looking at the Pigagle warily. He had his wand ready incase the creature made any sudden movements.

"Oink…oink…CAHHH!!!" The Pigagle roared, suddenly breaking into a run.

Ron's eyes widened in surprise, "Cah? CAH!!!"

At once, he remembered what he had read in one of his textbooks of how to stop a Pigagle from attacking.

"Cah! Cah! CAAAHHH!!!" Ron exclaimed moving his arms up and down like a bird. He felt stupid, but this was necessary for his survival.

Pigagles are creatures that get offended easily (just like the Hippogriff but only thing Pigagles are not so high class, like with the Hippogriff you have to bow to them but it is not so with a Pigagle.) The action that Ron was doing was a sign of friendship, and from this gesture, the Pigagle can determine whether it was a sincere gesture or not.

The Pigagle stopped inches from Ron and stared at him with its piercing blue eyes. Then, it opened its mouth and roared one final "CAH!" which almost made Ron deaf.

Ron stroked the head of the Pigagle to show that he wouldn't hurt it, and then he swung his leg over its body and sat down.

He held onto the feathers that protruded from the Pigagle's neck as it took flight into the trees.

The Pigagle flew from tree to tree silently until Ron stroked its head again to indicate that he wanted it to stop. He peered downwards through the leaves; he could make out some shadows moving around on the ground below.

He carefully got off the Pigagle and held onto the trunk of the tree as he steadied himself on the limb that he was standing on.

Suddenly, he heard a _crack_ and then one second later he felt himself falling.

He hit the ground heavily, "Ouch!" he muttered. He held out his wand in front of him and that's when he noticed two figured approaching him quickly…it was Krum and Professor Flitwick!

--

Hermione gasped when she saw Ron fall from the tree, _What's he doing here? _She thought. She tried struggling from the grip that one of the Death Eater's had on her arm, but she couldn't get free.

She watched Krum and Flitwick roughly pull Ron to his feet.

_Don't hurt him; please don't hurt him, _she silently prayed.

"Mr. Weasley, you are in very big trouble right now." Flitwick said with a sadistic smile playing on his lips.

"W-what're you going to do? _Expel _me?" he asked bravely looking squarely at Flitwick.

Flitwick laughed and looked at Krum, "No, definitely not, we have something better in mind."

Krum guffawed and started clapping his big, square hands together as if he were opening Christmas presents, "V are going to _kill _you."

Hermione's heart literally stopped for a second, "You can't!" she exclaimed and then bit her lip. She had better restrain herself from her sudden outbursts before Flitwick and Krum killed both her and Ron.

Krum let go of Ron's arm and strode to where Hermione was standing, "Vat did you say?" he asked nastily, spit flying in all directions.

Hermione felt the bile rising in her throat, "N-nothing." She stammered.

Krum grabbed her shoulders and commanded the Death Eater to let go of Hermione, "Next time you open your mouth, I promise I vill kill you."

Hermione started shaking with fear, but she nodded.

Krum glared at her one last time before pushing her towards the Death Eater, who firmly took hold of her again.

"Let's do it." Krum said rubbing his hands in anticipation. He pulled out his wand from his robes and aimed it at Ron.

"Sir! Sir!" Someone called flying towards them on a broom and then stopping in mid air right in front of Ron, Flitwick and Krum.

"What is it?" Flitwick asked annoyed.

"T-the potion will take time." The Death Eater said.

"What?!" Flitwick looked furious.

"It'll take roughly a month to completely be ready."

"Bluggin! I will not accept this!"

"Sorry, sir." He replied, sounding not so sorry at all.

"Remove yourself from my sight! At once!" Flitwick shouted pointing his wand at Bluggin.

Without another word, Bluggin flew upwards into the trees.

"Bloody idiot!" Flitwick cursed, completely forgetting about Ron, or so Hermione hoped.

"Flitwick, the boy." Krum said, his wand was still pointing at Ron.

"Forget the boy! We'll lock him up in the dungeon, with _her_." Flitwick said looking at Hermione.

"Oh, all right." Krum said looking sad that he couldn't kill Ron.

Flitwick dragged Ron to where Hermione was standing and then said, "_Chaineromos!" _Magically heavy chains wrapped themselves around Hermione's and Ron's wrists and legs.

"Oh, before I forget, give me your wand." Said the disgusting, filthy, bloody vermin Flitwick snatching the wand from Ron's fingers.

"Let's head on to the castle."

Krum and Flitwick lead the way with Hermione and Ron silently walking behind them. The Death Eater trailed behind all of them occasionally sending hot sparks at Hermione and Ron's feet to get them to move faster.


	11. Chapter 11

Hey! Thank you for all of your reviews! **Sanji **(I _knew _it would've been you reviewing! :P But thanks! Even though you said you wouldn't review since you read it already lol)**, SarahLou** (Thank you sooo much for your review! Really? It made you laugh? That's good!!! :D I'm really happy that you liked it!)**, fuzzfurry **(Everything is not as it seems! ;) You'll see what I mean in this chapter, thanks for your review!)**, Punkbanana13, Amy-Chris** (Lol You'll see…! I can't tell you more than that because I have a buncha ideas in my head and I'm not sure which ones to use :D)**, WickedTeaspoon27 **(Thanks a lot for your review!!! Yeah I know, for me too, Krum always gave me this evil vibe lol Don't know why, maybe because he 's from the Durmstrang school lol)**, Angel of Fire SGI, CarrieWeasley, Celebrean, flying-piggy-123** (Thank you for your review!!! :D And you're right, she will explain everything lol ;))**, Witchyartemis** (Lol Thanks! I don't know how I came up with it! I was in the store and I was just bored like crazy and then I was thinkin' of what to write for the chapter and then I wanted a animal that was mixed and then yeah! Lol Came up with that Pigagle idea :D)

**_Chapter 11_**

**__**

Once inside the dungeon, Flitwick removed the chains from Ron's and Hermione's wrists and legs.

"Have fun." He said laughing before exiting the room and closing the heavy wooden door.

Ron could hear a number of locks and bolts sealing itself from the outside. He looked around the dimly lit dungeon and saw two cots on one side of the room, a basin, and a hole in the ground, which Ron guessed was supposed to be the toilet. Then, his eyes fell on Hermione who stood frozen a few feet away from him.

Her eyes widened as she surveyed the room, "Ron…what're we going to do?" she asked her voice trembling.

"We'll think of something." Ron said hoping he didn't sound as uncertain as he felt. He took her hand, brought her to him, and enveloped her in a hug.

His heart started racing as he felt her arms encircling his neck.

Suddenly, Hermione pulled away from the hug and looked at him accusingly, "Where's Harry? And Ginny…and-and…" her voice trailed off as she thought of more names.

Ron looked at the ground, "I left them in the Great Hall."

Hermione groaned, "The Death Eaters are going to kill them, Ron!" she exclaimed.

"What're you talking about Hermione?"

"He told me…he told me _everything_!"

"I don't understand." Ron took her hand and leaded her to the cots. He noticed that the sheets were dirty beyond belief and they had several holes, which meant that there must've been rats lurking in this dungeon somewhere.

"I can't sleep on that!" Hermione exclaimed, "That's so unhygienic!"

Ron sat down on the cot and said, "Well, then, at least _sit_ on it." He motioned to the empty space next to him.

Hermione slowly sat down and looked at him anxiously.

"Tell me everything."

**--**

**Flashback**

When class was over Hermione was one of the last people to get up from her seat.

"We'll wait for you outside." Harry said.

"No it's okay, you guys go ahead." Hermione said, "It'll only take a few minutes."

"Okay, well, good luck, Herm." Ron said and then they both exited the room.

Hermione walked cautiously to Professor Flitwick's table. He was busy sorting out some papers.

She stood there for a good few seconds before saying, "Um, Professor, you wanted to see me?"

Professor Flitwick looked up at her and her heart almost stopped. His eyes were blood red, "Yes, Miss Granger. I've been waiting for you."

"P-professor…your _eyes_!"

"Yes, Miss Granger, please come with me, and don't make a sound."

Hermione had a bad feeling about this, "Professor, maybe you're not feeling well, I'll just be going now." She backed away from his desk.

"No!" Professor Flitwick shouted leaping over his desk and grabbing her arm, "Come with me, girl."

Hermione's eyes widened in surprise, no teacher ever talked to her like that before!

They waited about five minutes before heading out into the corridors. Professor Flitwick must've planned everything perfectly because, there seemed to be no teachers or students or even _ghosts_ loitering in the hallways.

When they reached the grounds where Hagrid's cabin and the Forbidden Forest were located, before entering the forest Professor Flitwick took out his wand and said "_Accio wand!" _

Hermione's wand zoomed out of her school robes and flew into Professor Flitwick's hand.

"I might need that!"

"Not where you're going." Professor Flitwick pushed Hermione forward.

As she stumbled over a rock, she heard Professor Flitwick muttering something behind her. Before she could hit the ground face first, she felt something pressing hard into the skin around her wrists and her neck.

It felt as if an invisible rope was pulling her back onto her feet.

Hermione looked down at her wrists and saw that there were deep red lines forming, "Where are we going?" she demanded.

"Come with me and I'll show you."

Professor Flitwick and Hermione walked deeper into the forest not stopping once even for a rest.

"We're almost there." He said about thirty minutes later.

Hermione felt very dehydrated, sweat was dripping down her forehead like raindrops.

Suddenly, she felt the invisible ropes pressing into her skin again, which meant that Professor Flitwick wanted her to stop walking.

He pushed past her to the tree in front of them. He walked to the other side of the tree; bent down and pulled something out of the roots of the tree.

He pointed his wand at the bottle and said, "_Portus!_" The bottle lighted blue and shook tremendously, then became still.

Hermione gasped, it was a Portkey!

"C'mon girl…we have only ten seconds." Professor Flitwick said hurrying back to where she was standing. He grabbed her hand and pressed her forefinger onto the empty water bottle.

Before Hermione even had a chance to think of where the Portkey would take her, she felt as though a hook just below her navel had been suddenly jerked irresistibly forward. She could feel her feet leaving the ground. In a swirl of color and howling wind, they sped forward…until finally Hermione felt her feet hit the ground, hard.

She stumbled but the caught herself before she actually hit the floor. She looked up at her surroundings; they were in a very large patch of land in the country.

Without a word from Professor Flitwick, he hurried towards a barn house, pulling Hermione along with his invisible ropes.

Ignoring the pain, Hermione noticed that the whole place was deserted, it was supposedly to be a farm, but there were no animals in sight.

"W-where are we?" Hermione asked.

"No time for questions." Professor Flitwick answered curtly. He gave the invisible ropes a hard tug and Hermione slid ever so slightly on the small pebbles that covered the ground.

"Almost there…almost there…" Professor Flitwick started mumbling hungrily as if he were in a trance.

Professor Flitwick pushed open the wooden door of the barn house and walked in.

Magically, the doors slammed once they were inside.

"Did you bring her?" called a voice from somewhere inside the room.

"Yes, sir. J-just in t-time too. As you can see…" Professor Flitwick stuttered. He must've let go of the invisible ropes because, she didn't feel it pressing to her skin anymore.

Hermione watched in horror as Professor Flitwick's body slowly turned fat and round, his eyes turned small and watery. The hair on his head turned thin with a large bald spot.

Hermione took a few steps backwards; she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"I will forever remain the loyal servant of My Master." Peter Pettigrew proclaimed, sniffing the air with great importance, but his eyes betrayed him.

Hermione could see fear in his eyes, "How did you do this?" she exclaimed completely flabbergasted.

"Use your brains, Hermione." Came the voice of someone familiar. The person stepped forward into the light.

Hermione gasped, "Viktor!"

Viktor stood right in front of Hermione and traced his finger along her jaw line, "V need you, right now."

Hermione trembled, his touch felt like ice.

"Now, now Viktor. You'll have your time with Miss Granger soon, in a few months perhaps." Lucius Malfoy said grinning widely.

Hermione felt her cheeks flush, "How did he do this? If he used the Polyjuice potion, then he would've needed pieces of the _real _Professor Flitwick's hair or something of that sort to change into him!"

"That needn't be so, Miss Granger. We are far _better_ and _more advanced_ wizards to be using that simple potion. Think Miss Granger, I'm sure you'll come up with something." Lucius drawled in a condescending tone.

Hermione searched her brain, thinking of any related potion. Then it hit her, "The _Copious Liquid Potion_!" she exclaimed, "but that's very…" she trailed off.

"Deadly?" Lucius filled in, "Yes, of course. But, Peter here is the loyal servant, as he so boisterously proclaimed and is willing to do anything to bring the Lord back into power."

Hermione looked around the room and saw a number of Death Eaters slowly surrounding her, "How did you do it? Anyone would notice _him_ if he just walked into the castle." She pointed at Peter in disgust.

"That's true, but no one would notice him as a rat, now would they? Peter here went into Flitwick's chamber one night when he was alone and transformed himself into his human self. Let's just say Flitwick put up such a fight you wouldn't believe, but being the small man he was, we eventually overcame him."

Hermione saw Peter nodding energetically in agreement.

"Then, Peter went to the window of the room and called on one of the Death Eaters to take Flitwick and him back to our temporary home of our Master." He motioned to his surroundings.

"Once inside this room, we set up the cauldrons and everything else we needed, which included the late _Professor _Flitwick."

"Y-you _killed_ him?" Hermione asked. Her heart was racing. _What if they kill me too? _She thought, she felt the fear taking over.

Lucius nodded, "Of course. We had to chop him into little bits and then put him in the cauldron with all the ingredients, every few days Peter came back here, before the full moon to drink his potion."

"What do you need me for?" Hermione asked shrilly.

"Information. Every few days Peter will come to collect you and bring you to us. Now that we've got that out of the way…tell us everything you know." Lucius said pointing his wand threateningly at Hermione, "Or else…"

Hermione gulped the large lump that was forming in her throat. There was only one question running through her head. _Why me?_

**End of Flashback**


	12. Chapter 12

Hellooo!!! Thank you all for your reviews! :D **Punkbanana13 **(Thank you sooo much for your review! I'm so happy that you liked it!), **WickedTeaspoon **(Lol You're sooo funny! "Flitwick! You crazed little dwarf" lol you're sooo bad! ;) Yeah, that's going to be a tough situation with the bathroom thing!), **Dolphinz87 **(Lol It's alright! Thanks for your review! I put him there because he's _evil_! ;) lol No but serious, I don't really like him too much so I just made him one of the bad guys :D), **Celebrean**, **SarahLou **(Lol Thanks! Yeah, that's true, Flitwick doesn't have that evil vibe lol), **hpfan8888888**, **RonLuver2005**, **Rena the Great **(Thanks for your review! Lol I know, I hate Wormtail too! He looked _sooo_ disgusting in the movie lol Like a real rat. Let's see what kinda mood I'm in to determine whether Ron and Hermione will survive lol ;) I'm might just kill them both! I'm just kidddddding!!! :P), **Lyz**, **Courtney**, **Flying-piggy-123.**

**A/N: **I hope you guys like this chapter! It's not the best but I PROMISE you that the next chapter (13) will be good! I cant wait to post that one though :P Please review and tell me what you think :D

Chapter 12 

**__**

Ron stared at the ground; he couldn't believe all of what Hermione had been through, _his_ Hermione! He felt anger surge through his veins as he imagined Krum touching her face.

"I'm so sorry, Ron." Hermione said softly, "I couldn't tell anyone, they would've killed me."

"I know, don't worry. I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at _them._ I can't believe this!"

Hermione looked behind her at the only window they had in the room, but even if they tried to jump out of it they would've been too high up. In addition, there were steel bars fastened into the bricks of the wall.

The only source of light was the light emitted from the full moon.

Ron took off his shoes and stood on the dirty cot, "Maybe-I-can-try-to-pull-this-out." He paused after saying every word while he was struggling to pull out the bars.

Hermione sighed, "Ron, you're not strong enough to pull them out." She pointed out.

Ron felt himself blush, "Thanks a lot, Hermione." He replied sarcastically. He jumped down from the cot.

He could feel Hermione watching him, "What?" he asked turning to look at her.

She shook her head; she had an amused expression on her face, "Nothing."

Suddenly, Ron felt himself step on something soft, "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to step on your foot." He apologized taking a step back.

Hermione looked confused, "What're you talking about? You didn't step on my foot."

"Then what did I…" his voice trailed off as he bent down and blindly felt for the soft, squashy thing. He felt a thick thread and pulled it upwards.

Hermione screamed and scrambled onto the cot.

Ron felt his stomach turn, there dangling from hand was a small, fat, Rasnock. This kind of creature lurked in the dirtiest places, mostly in dungeons. It was a mixture of three creatures, a rat, snake, and cockroach.

The antennas of the Rasnock moved around wildly, since the Rasnocks don't have good vision; they have to feel their way in their surroundings.

Ron dropped the Rasnock and jumped on the cot next to Hermione.

"Ouch, Ron!"

"They can't climb walls, can they?" Ron asked, knowing that Hermione must've read up something about Rasnocks.

"No, Ron. But, as strange as this sounds, when the Rasnocks urinate it glows in the dark and if somehow some of that urine gets into our food or anything we can die."

"They have poisonous _pee_?" Ron exclaimed surprised.

"Yeah."

Ron looked down at the ground and almost got a heart attack, in almost every space in the room he saw splashes of urine glowing.

"Is there a way of curing a person if they drink t-the _pee_?" Ron asked.

"Urine, Ron, not _pee_. You make it sound so _vulgar_!" she pointed out, "but to answer your question, no."

Suddenly, Ron saw an opening to finally use the line he'd been practicing for ages, "I can make something _else_ sound…_vulgar_." He said in a supposed to be seductive tone, his voice deepened a few notches.

He heard Hermione gasp, "_Ron!_" she exclaimed.

"Sorry, I think those Rasnocks have some weird effect on me." He apologized, "So you're absolutely positively _sure_ that they can't climb walls?"

--

The next morning Hermione opened her eyes slowly, _Where am I?_ She thought. She looked at the blankets expecting to see it white and clean, but instead she saw numerous stains and a disgusting smell filled her nostrils.

"Yuck!" She exclaimed jumping off the cot, she started dusting off her dress with her hands, "This-is-so-_disgusting_!"

She heard someone chuckle and turned her head to see Ron watching her, he standing against the wall, "It's not funny, Ron!"

"I'm hungry."

"You're _always_ hungry!" Hermione pointed out.

"Yeah, well…" Ron said shrugging his shoulders.

Right then Hermione heard the locks being unlocked and then the door opened a bit.

One of the Death Eaters poked their head into the dungeon and said in a mocking tone, "Here's your _breakfast_." He pushed a medium sized metal tray along the cemented floor.

The tray hit a few uneven layers of the floor, some of the watery stuff in the bowls sloshed over the sides and onto the tray, and bits of liquid flew onto the floor too.

"Enjoy." The Death Eater said slamming the door and fastened all the locks again.

Ron rushed to where the tray was and bent down, "Ugh! What _is_ this stuff?" he asked making an appalled face. He picked up some bread that was already soggy from the liquid that spilled onto it, "We have to _eat_ this? They're mad!"

Hermione had another thing on her mind as she walked over to the hole that they were supposed to use as a toilet and surveyed it.

Ron appeared next to her, "You have to use the loo?" he asked.

"Well, it's obvious isn't it? Why else would I be standing here?" Hermione said, she felt as if her bladder would burst any minute. She squeezed her thighs together in hopes to hold back the urge of going to the bathroom.

"I used it while you were sleeping, it wasn't that bad."

"You're a _boy_! All you have to do is aim it like a hose! I actually have to bend down and – oh no!" She exclaimed, covering her mouth and moving a great distance away from the hole with Ron following her lead.

They just saw a rat emerge from the hole, and it was happily munching on something Hermione didn't want to know what it was.

"I-I can't do this!" she exclaimed.

"You have to. Okay, look, I'll stand all the way by the door." Ron said squeezing her arm before heading to the door, "Just hurry up, will you? I don't want someone to open the door and it'll just knock me out."

Hermione stared at Ron's back deciding what to do.

"Just do it, Hermione." He said as if reading her mind.

She sighed and then walked back to the hole in the ground. She held her breath as she raised her dress a few inches above the ground; she pulled down her underwear and then placed each of her feet over the hole. She crouched down, her legs started shaking, _Calm down…just, do it._ She said to herself.

Finally, she felt as if a tap had been opened and all the water was rushing out.

"I hope the rat doesn't bite you in your donkey." Ron said and then he burst out laughing at his own joke. [Donkey also know as arse]

Hermione felt the muscles by her bladder constrict, which didn't allow the rest of the urine to pass, "Ron, I'm going to kill you." She mumbled trying to get herself to relax.

Finally, when she was finished she quickly stood up and pulled up her underwear.

"Can I turn around now?" Ron asked while he was still laughing.

"The joke wasn't _that_ funny, you know." Hermione said letting her dress fall and heading to the sink, where there was no soap.

She turned the knob and only a few trickles of water came out.

"Reminds me of your style of peeing." Ron commented.

"Oh shut up!"

"Except yours kept fluctuating, it was like, peeeee….stop! Pee, pee, pee, stop! Pee, stop! Peeeeeeeeeeeee, stop! Peeee peeeee, stop! Pee-"

"I get your point." Hermione interrupted, she never felt so embarrassed in her whole life.

"Peeee-"

WHACK!

Hermione hit Ron on his chest.

"What's that for?"

"For being an unbearable _git_!" She exclaimed stalking over to the other side of the dungeon.

"Well, that's hurts." Ron said from behind her.

Hermione stopped walking, she noticed that there was an emotion in his voice that she never heard before, it actually sounded as if…he really did get hurt by her words…

She turned around and looked at him, they stared at each other.

Before either of them could say anything more, the door opened once again and Peter Pettigrew stepped into the room.

"Come, we have some work to do." Peter said, he took out his wand and said, "_Chaineromos!_"

As the chains locked onto her wrists and feet. Since Ron and her were standing a great distance from each other Peter said, "_Unitisid!" _ She felt the chain decreasing in length as it pulled Ron and her together until they were only about a foot away from each other.

"Let's head off, then." Peter said leading them out of the dungeon.

Hermione looked down and saw three House-Elves running into the dungeon.

Peter followed her gaze and said, "Every other day they'll come to clean out your dungeon, this serves only as a purpose for us, as we have to keep you clean until we use the potion." With that, he laughed gleefully and guided them up a set of stairs.


	13. chapter 13

**EvilMwhaa ha ha haaaaa **(Lol Thanks for your review! Yeah, I know the chapter was a bit gross :P)**, The Dp **(Thanks a lot for your review!)**, Punkbanana13** (Thank you! I'm sooo happy you liked it! Lol Yeah, I liked that part too, when I was reading it over I started laughing, I know I'm stupid lol :P Anyway, thanks again for your review!)**, SarahLou **(Thank you sooo much!!! :D I really love their characters though, I really want them to get together in the 6th book ;) Because you saw them in the 3rd movie right? Hugging and everything lol Yeah, I know that animal was a weird combination lol I think I overdid it with putting three animals to make one but oh wells! :P)**, Rena the Great **(Lol Yeah, I know poor Ron! :P They're eviiiiil that's why lol Thanks a lot for your review!!! :D)**, Flying-piggy-123** (I know! If I was in her place, I would've just _died_! Thanks a lot for your review! :D)

**_A/N: _**Hey! Thank you all for your reviews! I appreciate them sooo much!!! I decided to post this chapter sooner than usual because, I know chapter 12 wasn't so great and knew I wouldn't get much reviews for it. So, please review this chapter for me and tell me what you think!

Chapter 13 

**__**

            They walked up a number of staircases and down many corridors.

            Ron had never seen Hogwarts look so dark and evil before, almost every corridor they passed through Peter had to light his wand so that he could see where he was going. All the paintings that used to be on the walls were replaced by paintings of people being tortured and cursed.

            Suddenly, Peter opened a door and the bright sunlight almost blinded Ron. He couldn't even hold up his hands to block the sun, since he was still chained to Hermione.

            "We have some _dirty, dirty, dirty_ work for you to do, none of the Death Eaters want to do it, it's highly dangerous," Peter said leading them out into the court yard and down the sloping hill where Hagrid's cabin…used to be.

            "What have you done to Hagrid's cabin?" Hermione exclaimed.

            In its place a type of green room was built, it was huge and fully made out of glass.

            Peter pushed them inside the building and threw a few pieces of parchment at them, he muttered a spell to removed the chains and then he closed the door and locked it from the outside with his wand.

            Hermione who was in front of him, stumbled onto the floor with Ron falling next to her.

            Ron picked up one of the parchments, "What is this?" he asked looking at a horrifying picture of a humungous plant opening its mouth to engulf a wizard wearing a pointed hat.

            "Get up Ron, _get up_!" Hermione exclaimed jumping to her feet, she grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet.

            Just as they pressed themselves onto the glass wall of the green room, small orange-red tendrils were coming out from the soil.

            Ron looked at Hermione whose eyes were flying across the parchment reading the information as fast as possible.

            "Hurry, Hermione…I think its body is coming out." Ron said, his eyes widened as he saw a mound of dirt rising from the ground like a gigantic wave. As the wave of soil moved higher and higher into the air, he saw that it was approaching closer to where he and Hermione were standing.

            "This is mad! The plant that's underneath the soil can control-" Hermione stopped in mid-sentence and looked up at the wave that towered over them. She screamed.

            Ron grabbed her hand and ran to the right side of the room, which were full of bushes, "W-what was that thing?" he asked trying to catch his breath.

            "_Florarthtrol_ plant, o-once the plant starts to emerge from the soil, it can control the soil that's on top of it. This only happens when the plant detects movement above the ground, the only way we can kill it is to let it take us into the soil with them, and then we have to poke it with some thorns from the _Rosalyn _plant, there should be one around here somewhere…" Hermione trailed off, pushing away the fine branches of the bushes that kept hitting her in the face.

            "These are some violent plants." Ron observed struggling with one of the bushes that got hold of his hands, "We-can't-do-this-without-wands!" he exclaimed breaking free and keeping close to Hermione.

            "Muggles do it without wands." Hermione stated stopping in front of a harmless looking rose plant.

            Ron made his way in front of Hermione, "Let me get one for you." He said smiling down at her. He reached out to the plant to dislodge one of the roses when Hermione screamed out, "Ron! No!"

            He turned around and looked at her quizzically, "What? Nothing _happened_!" he exclaimed exasperated by Hermione always warning him about everything, this plant couldn't do him anything, it was harmless.

            Ron turned back to the rose and saw two beady yellow eyes gazing at him, slowly an orange tongue surfaced from the middle of the flower.

            He took a few steps back, when he did that he realized that he shouldn't have, because the tongue zoomed out of the rose and made three circles around his neck, "Help!" he gasped, falling to his knees. The whole room started spinning, he couldn't breathe…he needed air…

            Suddenly, his eyes came back into focus and a fresh wave of air rushed back into his lungs. He looked up and saw Hermione looking down at him sternly; her hands were placed on her hips.

            _Here comes the lecture_, he thought as he rose to his feet.

            "Why don't you _ever_ listen to me? That thing could've killed you, Ron! If I hadn't pulled out some of the leaves from it's stem then you would've…w-would've…"

            Ron saw her eyes quickly filling with tears, his heart raced. That's when he realized that she did really care about him, even if it was only as friends. He took her arm, led her away from that crazy plant, and gave her a hug.

            "Why'd you have to pull out the leaves from the stem?" he asked curiously after a few seconds of silence.

            Hermione looked up at him, her eyes were glistening, "The _Rosalyn_ plant is very fragile, even though it has killing abilities. Once you hurt it by pulling out the leaves the plant forgets what it's doing and shrinks down into the ground until it heals itself and then it'll once again rise above the soil with new leaves." She explained.

            "Thanks, Hermione. I don't know what I would do without you." He said hugging her tightly.

            Hermione returned the hug just as tightly and then let go, "We better kill that plant, I think that's our main objective." She said looking down at the parchments.

            "Wait…what's that in your hand?" Ron asked.

            Hermione opened her fist to reveal about a dozen thorns, "We need these to kill the plant, I told you already."

            "Oh, right…"

            As they made their way back to the entrance of the green room an important question popped up in Ron's mind, "Um, Hermione? How are we supposed to _breathe_ in the soil?"

            Hermione stopped in her tracks, and then shuffled through the parchments, "I saw it here somewhere…"

            Ron noticed a vine was ready to curl itself around Hermione's waist; he quickly lifted his foot and gave it a hard kick. The vine looked as if it were made out of glass because it just shattered into a million pieces.

            Hermione was so into her reading that she barely noticed anything going on around her. Then, she looked up and said, "Well, naturally we can't breathe in the soil, but it says here that once we're in the plant they have a supply of oxygen which will allow us to breathe."

            "What if we get stuck in the soil and we don't get into the plant?"

            "We'll die."

            Once they started walking, again Ron stopped again, "Hermione?"

            She turned around, "What is it?"

            He knew that his face must've turned crimson by now, he felt foolish saying what he was about to say, but he felt it was the right moment.

            Hermione watched him expectantly.

            "Don't ever leave me."

            Ron saw Hermione's features soften, "Oh, Ron!" she exclaimed, "Don't worry, I never will."

            With that said, Ron felt a hundred percent better, he knew that Hermione never broke any of her promises.

            When they reached close to the entrance Ron felt the earth shaking beneath his feet, he looked behind and saw the wave building up again.

            He felt Hermione grab onto his arm.

            As the wave of soil towered over them, Ron felt bits of soil falling onto him. He gave Hermione a scared look.

            In an explosion of dirt, the soil flew everywhere he felt something wrapping itself around his ankles. Then, swiftly he was pulled down into the dirt; he closed his mouth firmly not wanting to suffocate from inhaling the soil.

            He felt pebbles scrapping against his face as he zoomed down lower into the ground, at one disgusting point he felt a worm enter one of his nostrils. He started choking on the soil; _I don't think I'll make it…_he thought.

            Suddenly, felt himself being tugged hard and then thrown into an empty space, where he could actually breathe.

            He opened his eyes, but it was completely dark, then he heard Hermione's screams from somewhere below.

            "Hermi-" He started to scream back, but then he felt the thing he was standing on tilt upwards so that he was sliding down a slimy, wet tunnel.

            "Oof!" He moaned when he landed on something sticky, "Hermione?" he said standing up, as his eyes adjusted slowly to the darkness he felt something take his hand.

            He screamed.

            "It's me!" Hermione said next to him.

            He sighed, relieved. Then, he started coughing like mad, "I…think-I-ate-some-worms-on-my-way-here." He said pausing a few times to cough and breathe in some air. He coughed loudly and then he bended forward, he felt something slimy fall out of his mouth.

            "Ron, are you okay?" Hermione asked, concerned.

            "Don't worry about me." Ron said weakly, "I haven't gone this long without eating. And, when I meant I wanted to eat something I didn't mean _worms_!"

            "Let me warn you that once I stick thorns in this plant we'll be flying out of here really fast." Hermione said.

            Ron had no idea what she was doing since he couldn't see a thing, but he could hear a sound like something was spurting out of the plant; he guessed that happened every time she placed a thorn into it.

            Suddenly, Ron felt the plant shaking, as if it were having a seizure. It kept jerking up and down and side-to-side.

            "Ron, get ready." Hermione said.

            He felt himself sliding down the tunnel again and then the plant jerked itself backwards and then forwards and that's when Ron felt himself flying. 

             He was flying through darkness at first, then moments later he was flying through the air, and then he slammed into the glass wall of the green room.

            He slid down to the ground, completely exhausted.

            Ron looked up and saw Hermione flying through the air; she hit the glass wall too and landed right next to him.

            He looked at the plant and saw it danced around a few seconds before dropping to the ground completely motionless.

            Ron looked at Hermione and said, "I-never-want-to-do-that-again."


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you guys sooo much for your wonderful feedback!!! :D**

**The-Dark-Rose-of-Insanity** (Thanks for your review! Yeah…I know! Actually I got the idea with the toilet being a hole because they had it in India too, and I was like :o lol Hey! That's not a bad idea ;) I never thought about that!)**, Polaris09** (Thank you sooo much! Which parts didn't you get??)**, SarahLou** (Lol Thanks!!! I'm so happy you liked this chapter! :D I had fun writing about the plants, just making up stuff about it, but I wont over do it before you guys end up not liking it :P lol)**, Rena the Great, Punkbanana13 **(Thank you sooo much! I'm so happy you liked it!)**,  Cleo** (Wow!!! Your review surprised me because I didn't think you would've thinged me a review! :D lol Thanks!!! There's this book by Dan Brown, remember the one I was telling you about with the Da Vinci Code with the Mona Lisa and stuff? Well, since that book has adventure and stuff my father was tellin' me to write a book like that! :o lol That would be sooo hard!)**, HeAvEaNbAbY **(Thanks a lot for your review! : ))**, flying-piggy-123** (Thank you sooo much!!! You don't know how happy it makes me feel to hear that! (that you don't get bored from reading my story) : ) I feel sooo good now lol Thanks a lot!!!)**, Witchyartemis** (Lol Thanks! Okay, no problem, I'll check out your stories :P Thanks for giving me your links, you know I always end up losing them lol)**, Amy-Chris** (Yeah, I like Ron too! Lol Thank you for your review! : ))**, Zayne **(Lol Well, actually you know I _was_ going to leave that chapter when they were about to kill the plant but then I was like 'nah lemme just continue' :P Thanks a lot!)

Chapter 14 

**__**

            After tackling a few more plants that were violent, Peter finally came to collect them.

            "Wonderful work! Lucius will be very happy! That plant had been giving us a bit of trouble for a while." He squeaked, his nose twitched like the little rat he was. He magically put them in chains again and marched them out of the green house.

            Hermione felt her stomach grumble, she was so hungry. By looking up at the sun, she estimated that it could've been about three in the afternoon.

            "Sit." Peter said abruptly, causing Ron to collide into Hermione.

            The hot sun was beating down on them; Hermione felt the sweat roll down the sides of her face.

            They both sat down on the hard, rocky ground, which was equally hot as the sun.

            She could hear Ron mumbling behind her.

            Two house-elves scurried towards them each carrying a tray.

            When one of the house-elves placed the tray in front of her, she saw two pieces of already chewed bacon strips; a small bowl of seasoned rice, which looked edible, and in the goblet was some yellowish liquid.

            Peter said the spell to remove the chains and then he backed away from them. He pointed his wand at them and said, "_Bublermos!_"

            Hermione squinted at Peter, who was now making his way back into the castle.

            "What kind of incantation was that?" She asked Ron, she saw him get up from the ground.

            "I have no idea, maybe we could make a run for it while he's gone." Ron suggested taking a few steps forward. He held up his hands in front of him, suddenly he screamed in pain.

            "Ouch!"

            Hermione got on her feet in a flash, "Ron!" she exclaimed.

            Ron groaned looking down at his hands, which were now burnt, "I felt something like an invisible wall, and then I felt something hot…the damn thing burned me!"

            Hermione wished that she had her wand to heal him; she took hold of his hand tenderly. Small bubbles were starting to form, one bubble on his finger swelled and then bursted causing pus to drip down his finger and onto the floor.

            "I can't even eat now!" Ron realized a horrified look on his face.

            "I'll help you." Hermione offered, sitting down once more. She was thankful that the back of her dress was frilly so when she sat on it the heat from the floor wouldn't burn her.

            Ron followed her lead.

            Hermione looked at Ron's tray and picked up the most edible thing, which in his case was the bacon strips and brought it to his mouth.

            Hermione saw Ron grin before opening his mouth and taking a bite.

            Her cheeks flushed, she looked down at her own tray and with her other hand she picked up a fork and dipped it into the rice.

            While Ron was merrily chewing, she lifted the fork to her nose and smelt it. It smelt a bit strange but she opened her mouth and shoved the rice into her mouth. She heard something crunch as she chewed, she lifted her eyebrows in surprise.

            "Ron…something _crunched_!" she exclaimed, different ideas of what it could've been ran through her mind, "What if it was a cockroach, or a-a-" she stammered.

            "Well, at least you don't feel something wriggling in your stomach, right now!" Ron pointed out making Hermione shut up.

            After about an hour Peter came for them again, "Now, it's time for you to get washed up." He said removing the invisible bubble and leading them into the castle in chains.

            They followed, silently.

            "Inside, the two of you." Peter said opening a door and pushing them both into the room, "You'll find everything you need in there and also a change of clothes. You can't wear _that_ for what you'll do in the upcoming days." With that, he closed the door and locked it from the outside.

            Ron seemed to think that, that's how they must've locked Harry, Ginny, and the rest of the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws. He doubted that any of the Slytherins were trapped in a tower or room.

            He felt his blood boiling at that thought of the Slytherins running loose cursing everyone in sight.

            He heard the sound of the water being turned on and remembered where he was.

            He looked around the room and saw that there were two stalls, like a toilet stall but instead it had a shower and it was much bigger, about two or three people could fit in one stall. The only problem was that the two stalls were right next to each other and the height of the walls of the stalls was only about 5'6" and Ron was above that height.

            "At least the water works." Hermione said emerging from one of the stalls. She walked to the small wooden table that was across the stalls, there was also a small mirror hanging over it.

            She opened a drawer and pulled out two towels, they looked as if they had already been used. Then, she proceeded to open the second drawer; she pulled out some clothes and put them on the table.

            Ron went by her and rummaged through the clothes, he found a pair of jeans that was about two inches shorter than his usual pants and a loose white shirt.

            Hermione found some blue shorts and a red t-shirt.

            Then, they each found under garments and head into the stalls.

            Once Ron hung his clothes on a nail that was situated on the inside of the stall, he peered over at Hermione's stall.

            He saw her trying to jump and pull off the showerhead.

            "Let me help you." Ron said, reaching over and pulling down the showerhead from the semi circle holder that was holding it.

            "Thanks." Hermione said, then realization crossed over her face, "_Ron_/ Get out of there!" she exclaimed, she opened her stall door and walked out.

            Ron opened his door to be greeting by a glowering Hermione, "Don't you _dare_ watch me while I'm taking a shower!"

            Ron laughed, "Now why would I do that?" he asked teasingly.

            Hermione looked up at him, weighing the sincerity in his voice, "I swear I'll never talk to you ever again if you do." She turned on her heel and went back to her stall, she slammed the door shut, and with a huff, she put on the water.

            After their shower, they were ushered back into their dungeon, which was now clean.

            Hermione put her head on the pillow and sighed, "Finally! Clean sheets!" she exclaimed.

            Ron rolled his eyes, but he was smiling.

            Suddenly, the door opened and a Death Eater walked in.

            "Tonight Mr. Viktor Krum has requested you to meet him in his chambers. The activities that will take place will not be discussed." The Death Eater said looking at Hermione.

            Hermione sat up and stared at him, "W-what?"

            "I will personally escort you, see you until then." The Death Eater stepped out of the room as quickly as he came leaving Hermione and Ron speechless.


	15. Chapter 15

Thanks soooo much for your reviews! I really appreciate every one of them! :D

**EVILMWHAA HA HA HA HAA** (Thanks for your review! It brightened up your day? Cool! I hope you feelin better now : ))**, SarahLou** (Lol Yeah, I know I didn't want to make them too dirty in the story like without taking showers and stuff :P Thanks for your review!)**, Witchyartemis** ( :) Thanks a lot!!! Yeah, I know Krum's really stupid lol)**, Rena the Great **(Lol Thank you sooo much!!! :D)**, Punkbanana13, Flying-piggy-123** (Lol Yeaaah, I know! But hey, he had to keep his word if he still wanted her to talk to him ;) lol Thanks a lot for your review!)**, WickedTeaspoon27** (Wow! That was a really long review, but I loved it! :D Lol Oh my God, you're sooo funny!!! The thing you said about Peter calling him "fugly little rat" lol Aw…man! I _was_ going to do something like that, but I wouldn't want you to go into therapy so lemme think of something better ;) And that was a really interesting idea about who to kill in the end, that never really crossed my mind…but let's see what happens! ;) Thanks sooo much for your review!)**, The-Dark-Rose-of-Insanity** (Thanks for your review!!! Happy belated birthday, by the way! ;) Um…I think I'll leave that up to your imaginations ;););) Lol!!! No problem, I'm going to make him really bad, because for some reason I don't like him either! :P)**, Sanji** (:P The Death Eater was "trying" to be polite in that chapter, in this one (chapter 15) you'll see him become a bit aggressive lol Thanks for your review, Sanj!!!)**, Snuffles2984** (Thank you soooo much for reviewing almost every one of my chapters in one night!!! That's really cool! :D Lol I'm so happy you liked it! But, I like YOUR style of writing, too!!! I think we both did better on our second stories, eh?? Lol ;) Thanks again for your reviews!) and **WhiskersIsMyCat** (Thanks for your review! Even though you only reached uptil chapter 6)

Also if you want to read a MWPP story check out one written by **babeephatangel. **:)

Chapter 15 

**__**

Ron felt his heart hammering in his chest, "W-what's Krum going to do with you?" he asked sitting down on Hermione's cot.

Hermione's eyes were wide with fright, "I don't know!" she replied shrilly.

Ron fell silent. He didn't even know exactly what time the Death Eater would come and take Hermione away from him.

"I'll just be brave." Hermione said trying to convince herself after a very long silence, "I am a Gryffindor after all."

"If he gets too close to you just give him a punch." Ron advised, "I don't want him to touch you."

As the room darkened, magically the torches in the room lit up. Ron guessed an alarm clock kind of charm was put on the torches to light up once it got dark; it was a big improvement from the darkness the night before.

Hermione looked at him, "It must be almost time."

He noticed her hands were shaking.

"Don't worry, Hermione." He embraced her in a hug.

As if on cue, they heard the door unlock, it was pushed open and the same Death Eater stepped into the room.

"Let's go."

Ron squeezed Hermione in a tighter hug then, and then he felt her being roughly pulled away from him.

"I said _let's go_!" The Death Eater roared gripping Hermione's arm tightly.

Hermione winced in pain, "Stop it!" she shouted trying to pull her arm away.

Ron watched in anger as the Death Eater lowered his face so he was looking right at Hermione, "The more you resist me, the more aggressive I get." He threatened.

Hermione instantly stopped pulling away and looked up at the Death Eater coldly.

"That's much better, let's go."

The Death Eater and Hermione walked out of the room, leaving Ron with his thoughts.

--

Ron had no idea how long it had been since Hermione was dragged away to Krum's chambers.

At first, he just looked out of the window, wishing he were anywhere but here. Then he took that thought back, because if he weren't here then Hermione would've been here alone.

He looked down at the floor and started counting the number of bricks, when he reached to number thirty-five, he sighed and started pacing the room.

He wished that he were with Hermione right now. He would've felt so much better if he just had a go at Krum and break his jaw.

Ron felt the anger surge through his veins once again, _If only I had asked Hermione to that dance in our fourth year, then maybe she wouldn't have met Krum._

In the back of his mind he knew that no matter what, it was Hermione's fate to meet Krum and end up here in this situation.

_Maybe I'm supposed to save her, maybe I have to be the hero for once and save all the Houses from the evil, He-who-must-not-be-named…_

Ron slowly drifted off to sleep, he had nightmares of what Krum and Hermione were doing, in one part of his dream, Krum was kissing Hermione, and she was actually enjoying it.

He was jolted out of his stupor, when he heard the door slam shut.

Ron looked around the room, but saw no one. Then, his eyes scanned the floor and he saw her on the floor.

"Hermione." He muttered rushing to her side at once. He pulled her up onto her feet, but she kept falling. He took hold of her waist and guided her to his cot, which was closest.

Hermione was mumbling stupidly, he caught a few words like, "Stars shining bright…Mars…Venus…."

Her mumbling reminded him of the Centaurs in the Forbidden Forest that they met a few years back, or was it only last year? Ron shook his head and gently laid Hermione on the cot.

Ron noticed that the neckline of the shirt she was wearing was stretched and was on the brink of tearing. He lowered the stretched neckline to a bit below her shoulder and saw red scratches, like claw marks.

He looked at her face and saw that her beautiful face was now covered in bruises and cuts that were bleeding.

_Oh my God…what did that idiot do to her?_ He wondered running to the sink. He found a roll of toilet paper sitting on the floor below the sink; he took a bunch of toilet paper and wet it from the dripping water of the tap.

Then, he ran back to his cot and started dabbing Hermione's face with the cold wet toilet paper.

He heard her murmur in pain, but he continued cleaning all the cuts on her face.

Ron ran from the sink to his cot non-stop trying to clean Hermione's wounds.

After a good while, Ron crawled over Hermione's body, he sat down on the empty space and leaned against the wall, still holding Hermione's hand, and praying that she would be alive in the morning.

--

**_A/N: _I hope that you guys liked this chapter and I hope it wasn't too stupid. Please review and tell me what you think, and no flames please! :)**


	16. Chapter 16

Thanks a lot for your reviews!!! I loved them all! :D

**Snuffles2984** (Lol You'll find out in this chapter :D It might not really be what you expect, but let's see! ;) I know, isn't Ron just the CUTEST? I'm starting to like his character a lot! Lol )**, Bob the builder, Siriusfan9** (Hey! That's a good idea! ;) lol Maybe I'll make them duel or something in the later chapters :D Lol)**, SarahLou** (Yeah I know! I _never_ got so many reviews in my LIFE! I'm just so happy all of you like it! :D Thank you soooo much! Don't worry you'll find out what happened now, in this chapter. :P)**, EVILMWHAA HA HA HA HAA** (Oh my God! You made me laugh!!! (when you wrote the thing about poking Krum's eyeballs out LOL!!!) Thanks a lot for your review!)**, True-gryffindor** (Thanks sooo much!!! :D I've been trying to make it original, but not too weird you know, I'm glad that you like it so far!)**, MWPP Fanatic** (Lol I think I needed that, now hopefully I don't have any more negative vibes in me anymore! :P)**, Flying-piggy-123** (Lol Thanks a lot! :D :D :D I really happy that you think so! Hehe Hopefully I explained everything that happened with Hermione and Krum properly in this chapter :D)**, Polaris09** (Oh my God! My story got lost?? :O Well, that's good you found it again! ;) Yeah, they're taking orders from him because he's working alongside Peter (well, actually he has a bit more say than Peter) but Krum is like second rank after Voldemort, since he's so evil and so UGHH-disgusting :P Lol Thanks a lot for reviewing!)**, PaulaS, Kendra is cheese **(Oh my God! Thanks so much!!! I'm so happy right now! Lol :D)

**_Chapter 16_**

**__**

            Hermione rolled over on her side, but then a piercing pain flowed through out her body causing her to whimper. Why was her arm hurting so much? She opened her eyes slowly to the sunlit room.

            She looked on her right and saw Ron sleeping against the wall, in a very uncomfortable position. She also noticed that he was holding her hand.

            Hermione tried to sit up but her whole body was aching.

            Ron's eyes flew open when the cot creaked, "Hermione!" he exclaimed letting go of her hand and wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

            "Ouch, Ron!" She exclaimed with a smile on her face.

            "It's been two days, I've been _so_ worried!" Ron said sounding a bit like Mrs. Weasley, "I tried feeding you your meals, they actually gave us something edible to eat the day before, I was a bit surprised."

            Suddenly, the events of two days ago flooded her mind; "Of course they would give us something good to eat, after that night. T-they had so much fun."

            Ron looked concerned, "What'd he do?"

            Hermione felt her eyes fill with tears.

            Ron put a reassuring hand on her arm, "Just tell me, please?"

**Flashback**

            The Death Eater dragged Hermione up a number of stairs and down many corridors, until finally, they arrived in front of a lone portrait in one of the corridors.

            The portrait was of a woman who looked like half a hag and half a banshee. Of course, her body was quite human.

            The Death Eater ran his fingers down the woman's long black hair.

            All of a sudden, the woman in the portrait let out a horrible scream, which echoed off the walls of the empty corridor.

            The strangest part was that instead of the portrait swinging open, the mouth of the woman started getting bigger and bigger, until Hermione noticed a silver doorknob shining inside the mouth. The door was completely camouflaged except for the shining doorknob.

            The Death Eater opened the door and roughly pulled Hermione through the threshold. 

            Hermione turned her head and saw that the door magically disappeared into thin air.

            "Come on, girl!" The Death Eater said jerking Hermione forward. They walked in silence down another empty corridor. The only sound that could be heard were the clicking of the shoes the Death Eater was wearing while he was walking.

            Each torch was stationed about two feet away from each other; letting Hermione's imagination run wild every time she saw a shadow she thought it was Krum. She wondered when Krum would just pop up, but her question was answered only moments later.

            They stopped in front of another door, but this door was colored a deep green shade and Hermione noticed that beneath the paint a serpent was carved into the door.

            The Death Eater knocked on the door and proceeded to open it.

            "She has arrived, sir."

            Hermione was shoved into the room, roughly. She looked around the room and gasped. It was huge!

            "You may leave now." Krum said getting up from the plush armchair that he was sitting on.

            Hermione heard the door close behind her. She watched as Krum advanced towards her. She felt her heart hammering in her chest; her palms were sweating like mad.

            _Calm down…just…breathe-Oh my God…_

            Krum was standing right in front of her, he ran his hand over her cheeks, "You look beautiful." He purred, well _tried_ to purr, but he sounded like a messed up voice recorder that was set on slow motion.

            Hermione tried to restrain from moving away from him. She looked at him expressionless.

            "Vat? You don't like compliments?" he asked. She could feel his breath on her face, her stomach turned in disgust. His breath wasn't helping matters any. Suddenly, he pushed her against the door.

            Hermione let out a small scream.

            He pinned her to the door, and he was now kissing her face, she felt his dry, cracked lips moving towards her mouth.

            "S-stop!" She screamed, pushing Krum off her with all her might. She looked at him angrily.

            "Vat's wrong Hermy-own-ninny?" He asked menacingly, his mouth splitting into an evil smile. He started walking towards her again.

            With her back against the wall, she shifted to the right; she bumped into a stand causing something to fall onto the carpeted floor with a soft _thud_.

            "Let me show you something." Krum said. He motioned to someone above.

            _Is he praying or something? _Hermione wondered confused looking up as well.

            Suddenly, in a blur of gray and white, something crashed to the ground a few feet away from where she was standing.

            She stared at the huge, human cage with her mouth hanging open.

            "Hermione!"

            "Help us!"

            "Please! Help…!"

            Hermione took a few steps forward and then gasped. In the cage were the two brothers Dennis and Colin Creevy and Luna Lovegood.

            Luna looked as normal as ever, as if she were sitting outside in a garden just marveling at the sky above.

            Aside from that, all three of them were dirty with their clothes torn in numerous places.

            "W-what are you going to do with them?" Hermione asked fearfully.

            She hadn't been very close with any of them, but in these times, it wasn't even a matter of who you were close to anymore. It was more a game of survival, a horrible, twisted game, where people really were killed…

            "_Attamur!_" Krum shouted pointing his wand at Hermione.

            Hermione felt an invisible claw dig its hand into her shoulder and pull her backwards against the wall, with a strong force. She tried to move away from the wall but she was stuck!

            She looked wildly around the room, that's when she noticed that Death Eaters everywhere, some were standing on the beams above and others were standing in the shadows, waiting for Krum to command them.

            "Open the cage." Krum commanded.

            Silently, one of the Death Eaters emerged from a corner of the room and burst open the door of the cage using his wand and casting a spell.

            Dennis and Colin screamed as bits of metal flew in their direction, which resulted blood to drip from the sides of their faces and hands, as they tried shielding themselves.

             "Stupid, stupid boys." Krum said thoroughly delighted, "Come forvad."

            All three of them moved slowly out of the human cage.

            Without warning Krum pointed his wand at Dennis and said, "_Avada Kedavra!_"

            Dennis fell to the floor instantly, dead.

            Colin started sobbing loudly, "D-Den-n-n-n-is…" he stammered through his tears.

            "Vat are you stuck on repeat?" Krum asked cruelly, now pointing his wand at Luna.

            Luna showed no reaction, she looked as if she were in a daze.

            Hermione had a sinking feeling that Luna knew that she was going to die; maybe that's why she wasn't putting up a fight like the two Creevy brothers.

            She shut her eyes tightly, she heard Krum say the spell again, and then Luna's body fell to the floor.

             Colin was now bawling, his whole body was shaking, "W-why'd you have to _kill_ him for? WHY?" he asked angry patches of red forming on his cheeks, "You should've k-killed _me_ instead!"

            Hermione opened her eyes; she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes.

            "If you insist…" Krum said pointing his wand at Colin.

            "N-no…please…" Colin begged falling to his knees.

            "_Crucio!_" Krum shouted.

            Colin fell to the ground screaming. His body kept twitching, from side to side.

            Hermione was sobbing now, it was like some kind of horrible movie.

            She could hear the Death Eaters in the background chuckling and laughing. Her mind was clouded, she could faintly hear them taunting Colin but she just couldn't understand exactly what they were saying.

            "_Avada Kedavra!_" Krum said again after a few minutes. He started rubbing his wand with his robes and then he turned to Hermione.

            Hermione's eyes widened in fear, _He's going to kill me!_

Krum pointed his wand at her and said, "_Vemiga!_"

            Hermione felt herself fly towards Krum's out stretched arms.

            "Now it's time to have some fun…" He backed away and pointed his wand at her once more, "_Imperio!_"

            Hermione felt a floating sensation as if all his worries and thoughts drifted out of his head…she felt so very happy…

_Bang your head on the wall…bang it on the wall…_Krum's voice echoed in her head.

            Hermione felt herself running to the wall like a raging bull. After her head collided with the wall, she couldn't remember anything else.

**End of Flashback**


	17. Chapter 17

**Thank you for your reviews!**

**SarahLou** (Thanks so much for your review! I know, the Creevy brothers were pretty peppy and so enthusiastic – but someone had to die :P It's good you liked that part where Krum was trying to purr, because I wasn't sure if anyone would think it was funny lol So thanks again! :D)**, M.Ann **(You never know, though :P But that's how I made her talk in the story, thanks for your review!)**, AmyChris** (Lol Thank you sooooo much!!! Lol Yeah, I know, I think that's why I wanted to kill them off in the story lol ;) I'm just kidding :P Don't worry, I'll think of something, if you have any ideas tell me!)**, Gryffxchick, ** **MWPP Fanatic**, **Snuffles2984** (Lol Thanks so much!!! :D Actually I was just making up crap, but then when I was reading it over I was like 'hey! It doesn't sound too bad' I'm glad you liked that part too (with the purring) Since I wasn't sure if a lot of people would think it was funny :D)**, Poky **(Lol Thanks a lot!!! Sure, no problem :P)**, The-Dark-Rose-of-Insanity**, **True-gryffindor** (Don't worry, hopefully something with Harry will come up in this story! If everything goes as planned ;) Thanks a lot for your review!), **Punkbanana13**, **Celebrean** (Lol It's okay. I hope you caught up with all of the stories you were reading :P), **Flying-piggy-123, Redick4** (Lol Thanks for your review! :D Well, actually what happens is when I try to write a chapter I think about it for a while like what interesting things I could put it in it you know? And then after that everything just flows, or so I hope! But yeah, mostly it's just from the top of my head, I just make up my stuff :P. I'm happy that you like it!)

**I hope you like this chapter! Please review and tell me what you think :)**

**Chapter 17 **

Ron stared at Hermione in shock. His mouth was opening and closing but no words were coming out.

"_I couldn't fight itI" _Hermione exclaimed shrilly, "I couldn't fight the Imperius Curse…" she added dejectedly.

"I'm going to _kill_ Krum if it's the last thing I do, I swear I will!" Ron clenched his fists as if he were ready to knock someone out.

"It was so horrible…watching the three of them just _die_! They didn't have any marks on them or anything!" Hermione continued, she felt like the poison of what happened two nights ago leaked out of her body by telling Ron everything, "And Luna…she didn't even make a sound when Krum pointed his wand at her and said the unforgivable curse."

Ron saw that her whole body was trembling now. He took her hand, "Hermione, well get him back, we'll get our revenge on Krum and the rest of the Death Eaters. We'll just have to think of something."

Tears poured out of Hermione's eyes like raindrops, but she nodded her head in agreement, "W-we will."

Suddenly, with a blast of white sparks the door flew open dangerously dangling on its hinges.

Ron wrapped his arms around Hermione's shoulders reflexively.

Lucius Malfoy strutted into the room with Draco at his side.

Ron had to hold back from saying a nasty comment at the pair of them.

"My my…what _dreary_ living quarters." Lucius commented making a quick round of the room, surveying everything in his path.

"Looks like we should've just let them stay with the house-elves, Father."

"Or in the Forbidden Forest where many of our faithful creatures reside."

Lucius and Draco looked at each other and smirked.

"They sure look like they're having a jolly good time." Ron remarked softly to Hermione.

He felt her shaking with silent laughter.

"We have a little _quest_ for you two." Lucius drawled, rubbing his hands in anticipation, "One of our animals have escaped into the Forbidden Forest, and you two have to find it."

"What is it?"

"Did we ask you to speak Mudblood?" Draco asked haughtily, still smirking.

"Shall we teach her a lesson?" Lucius asked turning to Draco, who was nodding furiously.

"Come here." Lucius commanded pointing to the space in front of him.

"Leave her alone!" Ron exclaimed. He couldn't hold his tongue any longer.

"Another Weasley…you should see how dreadful your sister looks. In fact, a few days from now there will be one less in your family." Lucius said.

Ron felt his heart stop for a second, "What!"

"Enough!" Lucius barked pointing his wand at Ron, "Move away from the girl, _now_!"

Ron let his arms drop onto the cot and then he slowly got off the cot.

"_Crucio!_" Lucius exclaimed.

Ron started twitching on the floor, horriblely. He screamed in pain. A few moments later, he felt the pain slowly subsiding.

He was panting heavily; he looked up at Lucius disdainfully.

"Liked that didn't you?" Lucius sneered; he lifted his foot in a kicking position.

Hermione gasped loudly, "Stop!"

Luckily, for Ron and Hermione a short and stumpy Death Eater rushed into the room, "Lucius…there's been a problem with the potion! We're missing a few ingredients."

Lucius put his foot back on the ground; his face turned red from anger, "You insolent fools! Can't you do anything without me?"

The Death Eater started stammering, "B-but…_we need it_!"

Lucius sighed heavily, "We'll continue this later." He said looking at Ron. He turned to the Death Eater, "Get Peter in here, as quickly as possible."

The Death Eater rushed out of the room at once.

"Come, Draco. Let me show you how to take care of these idiots who are a disgrace to pure bloods." With the swish of his cloak, he turned and exited the dungeon without a backwards glace at Hermione or Ron.

--

Hermione looked up at the position of the sun and noted that it was about four in the afternoon.

Ron, Hermione, and Peter were standing at the entrance of the Forbidden Forest.

"You'll need these things." Peter held out two backpacks towards Hermione and Ron.

Hermione took one of the bags and clutched it in her hands.

"You'll have to capture the _Mongaroo._" Peter shivered after saying the name of the creature, "Good luck." He started backing away, his watery eyes darting at the Forbidden Forest and then at Hermione and Ron.

"What's a _Mongaroo_?" Ron asked, frustrated, "How are we even supposed to catch that thing?"

"It will come to you – Oh yes, I forgot…silly me." Peter walked back to where they were standing. He opened his cloak and removed a medium sized pouch; he opened the mouth of it and put his hand inside.

Hermione watched him suspiciously as he held out his palm which had a pink looking powder in it.

Without warning, Peter threw the powder in their faces.

"My eyes!"

"Oh my God! It went up my nose!"

Hermione rubbed her eyes furiously, she opened them slowly, and she could see some of the pink powder stuck on her long eyelashes. She looked up the sloping hills and saw chubby little Peter Pettigrew running and slipping on a few loose rocks to get up to the castle.

"That stupid git!" Ron exclaimed wiping his face with the sleeve of his shirt, "I can't even breathe!" He started coughing.

Hermione rolled her eyes; Ron was just over exaggerating as usual.

She opened the bag. Suddenly, she felt her spirits rising. She had a wand!

"Ron, look!" She exclaimed happily, pulling out the wand.

Immediately, Ron stopped coughing. He looked at the wand for a second before saying, "That's not a real wand, it's a light-stick. Let me show you." He took the wand from Hermione and pressed a button at the base of it. A faint beam of light traced the ground.

Hermione sighed; "I'm sorry…I just thought…" she trailed off.

Ron handed her back the light-stick, "Don't worry about it, Hermione."

She held open the mouth of the bag and rummaged through the contents. There was a big square rubbery kind of object; she put it to her nose. It smelled like a dog treat.

She also found a shirt that was made out of some kind of leather, she observed it closer and saw that it was actually made of dragon hide.

_Oh my God...this animal might be breathing fire!_ Hermione thought.

"I think we should put these on." Ron suggested pulling out his own dragon hide shirt from his bag.

Hermione pulled her dragon hide shirt over the shirt she was already wearing. It was a hideous color of murky green mixed with flecks of brown. Although it was sleeveless, she felt a bit better knowing that she was protected.

"I reckon we should be off, then?" Ron said adjusting the backpack on his shoulders and looking at Hermione expectantly.

Hermione quickly did the same and then stared off into the foreboding forest.

Ron took her hand in his.

She looked up at him and saw that his cheeks had gone red, and he was smiling. She felt herself blushing, too.

They walked into the forest, straining their ears for the slightest sounds.

As they walked deeper and deeper into the unknown, Hermione gripped Ron's hand tighter. She felt grateful that she had him to hold onto even though, she had a sinking feeling that in the end there would only be one of them left.


	18. Chapter 18

**Punkbanana13** (Lol Thanks so much! You were my first reviewer :D I'm glad that you liked the chapter!), **SarahLou** (Thanks! :P But I hope this animal doesn't sound too weird lol Lol Yeah!!! I know, i was soooo happy when i saw how much reviews i got! We'll see who dies in the end...;)), **Amy-Chris**, **Stompy-sanji** (Lol Okay, i'll try turning up the heat! ;) But i don't want to make it too mushy! But we'll see what i could try and come with. Yeaaah, right, i can't make a best seller out of characters that are owned by someone else smarty! :P But i get what you mean)**, Kai-yasha, MWPP Fanatic** (Lol Thanks! :D You're right about the kangaroo part! But it's mixed with something else too lol You'll find out with what in this chapter! :P)**, Flying-piggy-123, Snuffles2984** (Oh my God! Lol You almost made _me_ forget how to spell it! hehe Mongaroo! Lol You'll see why it's called that in this chapter :P Thanks a lot for your review!!!)**, Redick4**(Yes!!! It worked!!! I just checked your story, you got one anonymous review!!! YAY!!! :D Lol I hope you get more! Lol Thanks for your review! :D)**, Witchyartemis** (Lol Thanks a lot for your review!!! Yeah, I know, they're cute huh? :P Yeaah, those people are PURE evil!!! Lol) and **Gryffxchick!**

  **_Chapter 18_**

**__**

            Ron held out his light-stick, the beam of light stretched out a few feet in front of them.

            He saw Hermione shiver next to him, "What's wrong?" he asked turning to her.

            She shook her head, "Nothing, just…cold."

            The deeper they went into the forest, the colder it got.

            Suddenly, something rustled in the bush next to them. He felt Hermione step closer to him.

            Ron advanced towards the bush, but then he felt Hermione hold him back.

            "Don't." she said softly, "What if it hurts you?"

            At that very moment Ron wanted to forget about everything, that they were prisoners of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, that all his friends and family were trapped somewhere in a tower, and that they had to catch this dangerous creature.

             All he wanted to think about was Hermione.

            He never noticed how brown her eyes were, or how much he just wanted to kiss her. He knew that they had an attraction between them, but it was never that obvious until now.

            It was positively radiating from their bodies how much they wanted each other.

            All of a sudden, he felt himself being pushed backwards, the next moment he was lying down on the ground.

            He snapped out of his daze and looked around, Hermione was at his side. Her eyes were wide with fright and…anger.

            "How could you be so _stupid? _Didn't you see that _thing_ come out of the bush?" Hermione said angrily getting up, "No, of course you didn't! You must have been thinking about some other _g-girl_! I don't even know why I bother!"

            She looked as if she was ready to walk away, but then she just folded her arms across her chest.

            Ron jumped to his feet, "Not bothering to walk away, are you? Too scared that the _Mongomery_ is going to come after you?" he retorted, all the love feeling he had towards her melting away.

            "It's not _Mongomery_, you stupid idiot! It's _Mongaroo!_"

            "Same difference."

            "Ron, it's _completely_ different!"

            Ron heard something growling a few feet away from them, his head snapped to the left and he saw the strangest animal looking at him.

            It was the Mongaroo! Its head was like a monkey but the bottom half of the creature was like a kangaroo, with the pocket and everything.

            Hermione must've heard the growling too, because she wasn't yelling at him anymore.

            He tried to push back the thoughts of Hermione and how he was crazy to think that she liked him back. Just because she talked to him in that gentle tone didn't mean that she actually cared about him!

            The Mongaroo sniffed the air, and then he used his big gorilla-like arms to push against the earth to lift himself up a few feet into the air.

            Ron stood frozen on the spot. He could barely feel Hermione clutching onto his dragon hide shirt and pushing him backwards into the cluster of trees.

            The Mongaroo didn't look very happy at Hermione's attempt to flee from it, so it made this weird gurgling sound, smoke emitted from it's ears. It was a light green shade, which glowed in the dark. Without any warning, bright red and orange flames were given out from the Mongaroo's mouth.

            "H-how are we supposed to capture that thing?" Hermione asked still pulling Ron farther away from the animal.

            "Maybe those food things will make it sleepy or something." Ron said putting his hand on one of the tree trunks and breathing heavily, "I think Ginny was telling me something about that from her Care of Magical Creatures essay she did a while ago."

            Hermione took the bag off her shoulders and pulled out the treats. She gave some to Ron.

            "Don't mind if I do." Ron said bringing it to his mouth.

            "Ron! That's not for you, you greedy bloke!"

            Ron laughed, "I know, I'm not stupid you know."

            "Well, then don't act like it!" Hermione snapped.

            Ron sighed. He didn't know why they always ended up fighting. Now he _really _knew that Hermione wasn't interested. On the other hand, maybe it was reverse psychology maybe she _did_ like him but…but…he couldn't think of a reason for his theory.

            He was brought back to earth when he heard Hermione scream.

            _Stay focused_! He commanded himself. He looked in front of him and saw the Mongaroo jumping towards them at a deadly fast pace.

            "Hermione! Run!" Ron exclaimed grabbing onto Hermione hand with his free hand and running.

            "The bag! It's all on the floor!"

            "Just-leave-it!" he panted, picking up speed. He could hear Hermione whimper behind him.

            "It's catching up." She said.

            _We have to make it…we have to make it…_Ron kept thinking repeatedly. He had to stay positive or else they wouldn't stand a chance of making it alive out of the forest.

            Suddenly, Ron heard Hermione groan, "It burned me!" she exclaimed.

            Ron heard Hermione fall to the ground; he turned around and saw the Mongaroo quickening its pace.

            "C'mon Hermione…get up." He tried to pull her to her feet. He looked behind him and he could almost see the entrance to the forest…if only Hermione would get up!

            "Just leave me here." Hermione said pleadingly, "You go ahead."

            "Are you mad?!" Ron exclaimed. He couldn't imagine living alone in that dungeon, without her.

            Ron looked up and he saw the animal standing over Hermione. It bared its yellow long teeth, ready to spit fire at them again.

            Ron remembered that he had the treats in his hand. _It's now or never_, he thought throwing the treats into the mouth of the Mongaroo, which was wide enough to fit a house!

            He watched as the animal swayed from side to side, its eyes looked unfocused. Then, it fell to the ground heavily, making the earth shake beneath his feet.

            "Oh, Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, "You did it!"

            Ron shrugged his shoulders as if it were no big deal.

            _I did it for you_.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N : Hey! I just wanted to tell you guys that I might be able to update as often as before because I'm starting to work now, but I WILL try and at least update once a week! And also thanks sooo much for your wonderful reviews!!! : ) **

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Chapter 19 

Hermione felt a rush of appreciation for Ron, every few seconds she kept sneaking glances at him. She had a feeling that her love for him grew even more.

As they dragged the Mongaroo by its gorilla-like arms, something dark flew across their path.

Hermione let go of the arm, it was so heavy, and it felt like such a burden dragging this animal to the entrance of the Forbidden Forest. On top of that, the place where the creature burnt her was aching terribly.

"I need to sit for a few seconds." Hermione said sitting on a large boulder, wincing.

Ron looked at her concerned, "Do you want me to carry you?"

Hermione wasn't sure but she swore she heard him ask that question in a hopeful tone. _Or maybe I'm just crazy?_ She thought.

She looked up at him, he also left the Mongaroo who was lying on the floor in a painful looking position, "No, it's alright."

"Why do you always have to be so damn stubborn?" Ron exploded, suddenly.

Hermione glared at him, not paying attention to the sound of something somewhere behind Ron.

She got up; ready to tell Ron off when she heard a loud _hoot_. Her eye widened as she peered around Ron, there sitting on a limb of one of the trees was Hedwig!

Hermione gasped and moved around Ron quickly.

Ron turned around to see what she was gasping at, "What is it?" he asked, following behind her.

Hermione stroked Hedwig's head. She wouldn't have recognized Hedwig if it weren't for the patches of white feathers that were surrounded by black dirty ones on her small body. It looked as if the forest had turned her wild, like Ron's Ford Angelica.

Hedwig stuck out one of her feet, she was clutching a rolled up piece of parchment.

Hermione gave Ron a quick curious look before holding out her hand as Hedwig dropped the parchment.

She looked at the handwriting where it said "To: Ron and Hermione" and she instantly knew who it was from.

Harry.

--

Once they were back inside their dungeon, Hermione pulled out the parchment from her shorts pocket.

When they were in the forest, they decided not to read it there because they didn't know who was listening to their conversations.

As the room darkened, the torches were magically lit.

"C'mon Hermione, hurry and open it." Ron said excitedly. He was sitting next to her on the cot.

Hermione was happy that Hedwig was there to distract her from getting mad at Ron because, she didn't want to have another row with him. She was so sick and tired of it.

She slowly unrolled the parchment, but in Ron's urgency to see what was written inside, Ron helped her, which caused the parchment to rip.

Hermione had to bite her tongue from screaming at him. _Why couldn't he just wait and have a bit of patience? If I were in Harry's position, would he be so excited to read a letter from me?_

She quickly rid her head of those thoughts and started to read the letter. It said:

--

_Dear Hermione and Ron,_

_I have many things to inform you about, firstly the Death Eaters have trapped the Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs all in one tower, it's very cramped in here. Ron, countless times Lucius has walked up to Ginny and told her that she was next in line to die…but don't worry, I've been protecting her. _

_Also, I am very lucky to have such a smart owl as Hedwig, it was last night when she came to the tower window with pieces of parchments and quills and such all in a pouch. This was at midnight when everyone else was sleeping._

Hermione, I've been hearing things about this potion that they're going to give you, I hope you both try and find a way to escape. A group of us (mostly Gryffindors of course) are thinking of how we can escape.

_They have already killed the Creevy brothers and Luna…and I heard that they have a whole list of people who they want to torture. We're in the tower where Divination used to take place._

_Waiting to hear from you,_

_-Harry_

_--_

Hermione jumped up from the cot and dropped the parchment, which fell slowly to the ground, "They're alive!" she exclaimed happily.

Ron's face was also glowing with happiness.

"Oh, Ron!" She exclaimed, unable to believe that Harry and Ginny were alive. Lucius gave her such a fright when he said that Ginny would be next, but as long as Harry was there hopefully nothing would happen to her.

Hermione wrapped her arms around Ron's neck and pressed her body against his own. She could feel him holding her just as tightly.

After a few seconds of silence, Ron cleared his throat, "Um, Hermione?"

Hermione looked up at him, she saw his eyes inviting her to do what she longed to do for a long time…_Oh hell_, Hermione thought giving in to the temptation.

Ron bent his head and pressed his lips against hers.

_Finally!_ Hermione thought blissfully, little did she know, that this one kiss would change her life forever.****


	20. Chapter 20

**Thank you so MUCH for all of your reviews! I loved them! : ) I hope you guys like this chapter, please read and review! **

**WickedTeaspoon27** (Lol Thanks sooo much for your review! It made me feel better because, I wasn't sure how you guys would react to it since I wrote it quickly, but I'm happy that you liked it! :D)**, Snuffles2984** (LOL!!! Ahhhh!!! I had a feeling it was a mistake, stupid Word!!! Lol 'Cause I wrote "Ford Anglica" on Word and then the red squiggerly line came up telling me it's Angelica! So I was like 'oh they should know what they're talking about" lol But I guess not! :P)**, SarahLou **(Sorry!!! :P But you know that's the way I love to end my chapters ;) lol I'm glad that you liked the chapter! :D)**, True-gryffindor, Punkbanana13**(Lol Thanks sooo much!!! It's really cool that you're liking my story and not thinking that it's weird!:P :D)**, WeluvweKR, MWPP Fanatic, Hippothegriff** (Oh my God! Thank you soooo much!!! :o That's so cool how you read all the chapters without getting bored! :D I'm sooo happy!!! Thanks a lot for your review!)**, Redick4** (Lol Thanks for your review! Sorry about that! I'll get to your story soon, I've just been busy working and stuff, and I barely have enough time to read any stories and even post a chapter but don't worry, I'll get to your story soon! :D Hopefully I'll read a few chapters tonight if I'm not too tired ;))**, HPKID328**

Chapter 20 

**__**

It had been two days since they went outside to do a task for the Death Eaters, which Ron didn't mind at all. Ron fully understood why they were making _them_ do the tasks. It was because some of the tasks were so ridiculously dangerous that the Death Eaters wouldn't have even cared if he and Hermione died.

That's why Ron had a burning desire to live. He wanted to show those filthy, bloody Death Eaters that he and Hermione could overcome any obstacle that was placed in their path.

However, now that they were _officially_ together, he _knew_ that they would live through these dark times, there was no question of _if_. It was just known to him that they would get through this.

Ron sighed, contented as he looked at Hermione who was still sleeping on her cot. One of the Death Eaters already put the tray full of food in the dungeon, without saying one word to him.

Now that he knew that Ginny and Harry were okay, he was worried about Hermione.

He had _no idea_ what that potion was for and why they needed Hermione to take it.

Suddenly, Hermione stirred, she slowly opened her eyes, which locked onto Ron's own.

Ron felt his heart beat racing, his cheeks were starting to burn with heat.

Hermione groaned as she sat up, the stupid Death Eaters didn't even bother to heal her properly all they did was give Hermione a rag and a few ice cubes.

Ron got up from his own cot and crouched down next to Hermione, "How're you feeling?"

"Bad."

Ron looked at her helplessly, there was nothing he could do to help her, and that was what was killing him the most. He hated seeing her in pain.

Hermione swung her legs over to the side of the bed and Ron got up from his crouching position and sat next to her.

He could see the burn marks through her shirt, which was somewhat transparent.

Ron looked at Hermione and saw that she had a smile on her face; despite the pain, she was feeling.

He took her hand in his and held it tightly. _I can't put a move on her now, it won't be right, will it?_

Hermione ran her fingers through his hair, which sent chills down his spine. _I'll let her make all the moves_, he thought he felt like he was in heaven. How long had he wished for something like this to happen? Forever…

"Ron…"

His heart was melting. _Control yourself! _Suddenly, he was shaken out of his reverie by thinking what Fred and George's reactions would be if they saw like this. He had a feeling that they would've thought that he was whipped.

"Yeah?"

He felt her lean against him, and then she looked up at him and whispered, "Thanks."

"For what?" He was very confused.

"For being you."

---

Hermione didn't know how long they were in each others arms just sitting there, but all she knew was that it felt right.

She knew that Ron would've been a bit confused when she was telling him thanks for being himself, but she really meant it.

Hermione knew that if she was stuck in this dungeon with someone else, both of them would've been depressed and what not, but with Ron he brought some humor to the situation. Even though it wasn't funny _at all_.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by the sound of the numerous locks on the door being unlocked. The sound of bolts turning magnified in the room, it was as if while they were sleeping the Death Eaters added even more locks onto the door.

The door opened moments later and Peter stepped into the room, he was breathing heavily as if he ran for ten miles, but she figured that he only walked for ten minutes. _That plump little monkey! Or rat, is more the word…_Hermione thought aggressively, if it weren't for Peter then she wouldn't have been in this situation! Why couldn't he just have died in their third year?

"C-come…with…me…" Peter said still heaving his chest greatly, as if it were a pain just to get out those three words. He pointed his want at Hermione.

She looked at Ron uncertainly. _Now that I have him, I don't want to leave him…_

"You have to take both of us." Ron said bravely, tightening his grip on Hermione's hands.

Peter stood there for a while thinking, then he exploded, "NO! I JUST WANT HER!" He crossed the room as quickly as his dumpy legs would take him and took hold of Hermione's upper arm, "I SAID LET'S GO!"

Hermione yelled in surprise as Peter pulled her to her feet, she felt Ron's arms falling from its place around her waist. She quickly looked at Ron with fear.

Ron looked as if he were ready to pounce on Peter, he kept clenching and unclenching his jaws as if debating whether to do it or not.

"Where are you taking her?" Ron asked getting up from the cot. He was towering over Peter.

Peter sighed, frustrated. He pointed his wand at Ron, _"C-crucio!"_ he stuttered.

Ron started howling madly, his screams echoed off the walls.

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed trying to free herself from Peter's strong grip. She started scratching him with her now, lengthy nails.

"You stop that now…or else I'll kill him." Peter threatened.

Hermione stopped at once; she turned to look at Ron who was now panting heavily on the floor sending invisible daggers at Peter.

She felt the tears that were welling up in her eyes splash onto her cheeks. This was not fair…just _not fair_! Why did Ron have to be tortured just for standing up for her? Especially for loving her...

"We're going to fix you up good…very good…" Peter said gleefully dragging Hermione out of the dungeon.

She gave Ron a fleeting look before Peter slammed the door shut.

Hermione shivered in fright, she had no idea where Peter was taking her and what was going to be done to her this time…****


	21. Chapter 21

**Thank you soo much for all of your wonderful reviews!!! I'm sorry that this chapter is a bit late, but I barely had enough time to _breathe_ in the last two weeks. Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter! :)**

**Sanji** (You're my first reviewer! I bet you feel like a dollar and twenty cents right? ;) Lol Just kidding! Well, not really :P)**, SarahLou** (Lol you're sooo funny! How do you come up with all these funny names for Peter! Lol :P It makes me laugh hehe)**, Redick4 **(Lol Don't worry! I get like that sometimes too, but I think it's better to wait because then you give people time to read and review :D Lol yeah I do that too! I go and read other peoples stories to keep myself from posting another chapter too quickly :P)**, AmyChris **(Thanks so much! I'm not really good at writing romantic stuff because I don't like getting too mushy lol But I'm glad that you liked it!)**, Snuffles2984, RedRose013, True-gryffindor, Punkbanana13, The-Dark-Rose-of-Insanity, Pia O'Leary **(Lol Thanks a lot!!! :D Okay, I'll check out your story, I hope I remember though! :P)**, Gryffxchick, Flying-piggy-123, Witchartemis **(Lol Thanks a lot! Well, better late then never right? ;) :P)**, Bob, GypsytheCentaur **(Lol Thanks a lot! I'll check out your story soon, I hope I remember though :P lol)

Chapter 21 

**__**

Hermione's heart was pounding in her chest as they approached a large red door; it looked as if it were covered in a velvety fabric. As she peered closer to the door, she noticed the initials D.M. printed in gold and slightly glowing in the fabric.

She felt the fear disappear as anger flowed through her veins. The only person who she could think of with those initials and who would have such a fancy _door_ would be no other than Draco Malfoy.

Peter sniffed fearfully before knocking on the door twice.

"Come in." the voice said haughtily.

As Peter pushed open the door Hermione wondered how somebody could think so highly of them self and think that they're the salt on the earth or something along those lines.

Hermione had to contain her gasp as she surveyed the room. It was a total _mess_!

On the large canopy bed the sheets were rumpled, it looked as if Draco pulled out the sheets from under the bed just before she arrived, because his face was slightly red as if he had just been running all over the room making the room untidy. She had no doubt that was exactly what Draco just did, knowing him and his nature.

The floor was littered with so many gadgets and papers. As her eyes traveled to the bookshelf on the corner, she felt completely shocked! She had never seen so many books _without_ proper covering, and almost more than half of the books had pages hanging out of them.

She heard Draco laugh. She turned her head to glare at him.

Draco stopped laughing immediately, he looked at Peter, "You can leave now, you're presence is no longer required in this room."

Hermione watched as Peter stuttered in his apologizes and quickly exited the room, closing the door softly behind him.

"What is all this about, Malfoy?" Hermione demanded putting her hands on her hips.

"You're in no position to demand anything, _Granger_. But, if you haven't guessed you'll be assigned to clean my room." His eyes danced malevolently.

"That's not what I'm talking about. What are the Deat-"

"Shut your mouth, Mudblood!" Draco exploded drawing his wand from his robes and pointing it at her.

Hermione bit her tongue to hold back the words that she wanted to say. She watched him cautiously as he began circling her.

"You're missing Weasley." Draco said frankly, his lips were curling into an unappealing smile.

She felt her heart stop for a second. _How did he know? _Hermione thought, she felt her pulse quicken, "I do not." She said trying to make her voice sound as bold as she could.

"I can see it in your eyes."

Draco took a few steps forward, until they were face-to-face.

Hermione looked up at him in distaste, she would not break his gaze, no matter what he said. She wanted Draco to believe her, so that no harm would be done to Ron. Her heart ached to be near him, but under these circumstances, she could not.

"I advise you to have fun with him while you can, because he won't be with us any longer." Draco said softly, he ran his fingers through her hair.

Hermione had to hold back from hitting him; she wanted to hurt him…to kill him, his Death Eater friends, and Voldemort.

As she continued looking into his eyes, she saw the hate mirrored there.

Suddenly, Draco took a few steps back and broke away from the gaze, "I'll leave you to your duties. Your _boyfriend_ should be here soon, who knows, this might be the last time you see him alive." He chuckled.

When Draco reached the door, he opened it and then looked at Hermione, "Have fun." He said sneeringly before closing the door behind him.

Hermione felt the breath rushing out of her lungs; she didn't realize that she was holding her breath.

After a few minutes, the door opened and Ron stumbled into the room, "I don't know why these people have an obsession with pushing people, it's so irritating!" he exclaimed. He looked at Hermione with a concerned look, "You okay?"

Hermione turned her back to him as the tears flowed down her cheeks. If what Draco said was true, then she would miss Ron dearly.

"Hermione?" Ron approached her cautiously. He didn't know why she was acting so strange.

It had been about twenty minutes and Hermione barely said anything to him. They were busy picking up papers from the ground. He felt as if she were distancing herself from him for some strange reason.

Hermione looked up at him, "Yeah?" she asked clutching the papers in her hands.

"What's wrong?" He took the papers from her hands and let them drop to the floor, "Did Malfoy say something to you?"

A shocked expression crossed over her face, "No!" she said quickly. A bit too quickly…

Ron raised one of his eyebrows, "What did he say, Hermione?"

"Nothing, he was just being a stupid prat." She muttered looking at the ground.

"That's in his character, he can't help it." Ron joked. He felt his heart soar when he saw her smile, a bit. Still, he had this nagging feeling that she wasn't telling him the whole truth.

Hermione left the task of picking up the papers and crossed the room to the bookshelf. Ron followed behind her.

"Why are you following me?" Hermione asked, he could hear a bit of an irritation in her voice.

Ron looked at her, confused, "I just thought-"

"That doesn't suit you, so stop thinking." Hermione snapped, interrupting him.

He stared at her with his mouth hanging open. Now he was _positive_ that something happened, but how was he supposed to find out?

Ron took a seat on the unmade bed, which was right across the bookshelf. He watched silently as Hermione pulled out different sized books from the shelf and started rearranging them by letter.

_Only Hermione_, he thought with a small smile.

Suddenly, he thought he felt something moving on the bed, he turned and looked down at the covers. He wasn't surprised to see a picture of a snake, he lifted the covers, and that's when he saw them.

His heart jumped in his throat. There on the sheets scuttling around were about three HUGE spiders! They were spitting at each other and making these funny noises.

One of the spiders made a big leap onto his shoulder and he almost got a heart attack, "H-H-Herm-ione!" he screamed. He jumped onto his feet.

Hermione turned and her eyes widened, "Ron, don't move…"

"That's a funny thing for you to say since you know I hate spiders and one just jumped on me and it must be laying eggs and what not…" Ron babbled, he felt a shiver run down his spine.

"Don't…move…" Hermione said slowly approaching Ron with an equally large textbook in her hand.

"I thought you were going to knock out the _spider_ not _me_!"

Hermione lifted the book and swiftly hit the spider off Ron's shoulder. What she did next Ron didn't know because he ran on the other side of the room, his heart was beating wildly.

_I hate spiders; I hate them…_he kept repeating to himself. He could hear Hermione hitting the book numerous times on the floor and on the bed.

After what seemed like ages, Hermione returned to the bookshelf still holding the now bloody book, which she quickly placed in the bookshelf.

Once his shock melted away, he noticed that she remained distant to him, even though he was right there just a few steps away from her.


End file.
